Shore Capital downgrades B&M to 'hold'

(Sharecast News) - Shore Capital downgraded B&M European Value Retail on Monday to 'hold' from 'buy' as it pointed to limited near-term visibility, a slower start to FY27 and a strong share price recovery. The broker said it believes B&M is taking sensible steps to address the core issues in its UK business, with the Back-to-Basics strategy beginning to improve availability, sharpen price positioning and simplify the range. Meanwhile, France remains a meaningful source of growth and cash generation continues to provide important support.

"However, with UK like-for-like sales only just stabilising, margin recovery still needing to be proven and near-term trading visibility limited, we think the recent share price recovery leaves the risk/reward more balanced than before," it said.

Shore Capital maintained its 215p price target on the stock.

At 0955 BST, the shares were down 2.1% at 196.30p.