Poundland slashes profit guidance ahead of sale

Poundland owner Pepco Group has cut its profit guidance for the British discount chain as sales continues to fall ahead of a possible sale.

The retailer is expected to deliver an underlying EBITDA of between £0m and £16.8m (€20m), compared to the previous guidance of £42.1m (€50m) to £59m (€70m).

It blamed the downgrade on “highly challenging trading conditions, which have been further impacted by clearance of old stock and product availability issues”.

The revised outlook comes as Pepco is in the middle of an auction process for Poundland, which it hopes it complete by end of September. It is understood that private equity firms Gordon Brothers, Hilco Capital, Endless and Modella Capital are among the shortlisted bidders.

Sales for Poundland dropped 6.5% to £830.8m (€985m) in the six months to 31 March. On a like-for-like basis, revenues fell 7.3%. It closed 20 stores in the half.

The discount chain’s underlying EBITDA in the half plunged to £18.5m (€22m), down from £73.3m (€87m), leading to a further £197.3m (€234m) non-cash impairment on Pepco’s balance sheet.

Pepco chief executive Stephan Borchert said: “At Poundland, trading remains challenging, which is reflected in a profit outturn below expectations for H1 and a weaker outlook for the full year.

“Barry Williams, who was re-appointed as Poundland managing director in March 2025, and his team are actively driving a recovery plan to help turn around the business by refocusing on its traditional core strengths.

“We continue to undertake a process to separate Poundland from the group, as part of a wider strategy shift away from FMCG, with a divesture expected before the end of FY25.”

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