B&M has appointed a new interim chief financial officer (CFO) as the retailer reported a 31.5% decline in adjusted operating profit in its first half results.

The company posted an operating profit of £177m in H1, down from £258m in the same period last year.

B&M’s results, covering the 26-week period to 27 September, did include a 4% jump in revenue, however, which climbed to £2.75bn. The retailer revealed it now has 786 stores in the UK operating under the B&M brand, 344 stores under the Heron Foods and B&M Express brands, as well as 140 stores in France operating under the B&M brand.

The FTSE 250 company begun a “back to basics” plan last month, which CEO, Tjeerd Jegen, said had been progressing well.

As part of this, B&M has announced a reshuffle to its senior management team, with the appointment of Helen Cowing as it’s new interim CFO. Cowing has previous CFO experience from a variety of corporate backgrounds, including with Selecta, FatFace and Mobico.

The retailer has also appointed Simon Hathway as its new group trading director and brought in Jon Parry to oversee supply chain and retail operations.

“Our back to B&M basics plan is progressing and we are taking decisive actions to improve our retail execution and restore our financial performance,” Jegen said.

“While the full financial benefits will build over time, I am confident our actions can restore sustainable like-for-like sales growth at B&M UK, which is our number one priority and, in the medium term, low double-digit UK adjusted earnings margins as an outcome.

“In the meantime, our store presence in the UK and France continues to expand, supporting group revenue growth as we reach new customers and support them in these uncertain economic times.”

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