Poundland breaks £1bn sales barrier

Budget retailer Poundland has reported annual sales of more than £1bn.

Total sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland rose by 11.8% to £1.1bn, helped by the opening of 60 new stores.

Like-for-like revenues - which strip out the impact of new stores - rose 2.4% in the year to 29 March.

The company said it continued "to carefully consider" a UK competition authority probe of its proposed acquisition of rival discount chain 99p Stores.

Chief executive Jim McCarthy said: "Despite tough trading conditions, Poundland continues to perform well and we served an average of 5.3 million shoppers a week during the quarter."

Poundland will report its full-year results on 18 June, and said it expected underlying pre-tax profits to be in line with market forecasts of about £44m.