Aroras set for large bonus as sales surge
BILLIONAIRE Simon Arora and his family will receive a multimillion pound bonus as their company, B&M Bargains, announced a special dividend of 20p per share to shareholders after bumper sales.
The Aroras are the biggest shareholders in the firm. Media reports last week said Simon will get £30 million two months after funnelling £44m in dividends to his offshore family trust.
The budget retailer will also share some of the profits with staff and agreed to pay 30,000 workers an extra week’s wages.
B&M benefited from its “essential” retail status as sales surged during the second national lockdown and subsequent tier regime, the reports said.
Sales at B&M Bargains stores across the country in the 13 weeks to December 26 soared 26.6 per cent to £1.4 billion. Sales in the six months to September 26 grew 25.3 per cent to £2.2bn, up from £1.7bn a year ago, and pre-tax profits jumped 122.4 per cent to £235.6m.
The company opened 18 stores and closed two during the period, creating 500 new jobs. Currently, B&M Bargains has 673 outlets across the UK.
Simon bought B&M – then a small, loss-making chain of stores – in 2005 with his brother Bobby. Together the siblings turned the budget retailer into a discount giant, with hundreds of stores across the UK and Germany, and surging ahead of its rivals on the FTSE 100 last year as it continued to operate under its ‘essential’ status.