Single-price chain Poundland plans 'considerable' expansion, including its first Scottish store, in the coming year.
The push follows record profit and sales for the 65-week period to March 30.
Poundland increased pre-tax profits by more than 65 per cent, from£2.9 million in 2001 to£4.9 million in 2003.
According to Poundland's newly-filed report and accounts at Companies House, gross profit represented 34.9 per cent of turnover, compared with 34.3 per cent in 2001. This was helped by a growing proportion of imported products and increased economies of scale.
Operating costs fell from 31.9 per cent in 2001 to 31.5 per cent, as a result of strong cost control and an efficient central distribution facility.
During the 65-week period covered by the report, Poundland opened nine stores and closed two.
In April, Retail Week reported that Poundland would open a store in East Kilbride and had further plans for a shop at Parkhead Forge, Glasgow, as well as 30 more stores across the UK over the next three years.
In June last year, chief executive Dave Dodd said that extra financial backing, in conjunction with a management buyout he co-led that month, would make the prospect of an acquisition of a group of stores increasingly likely.
Founded in 1990, Poundland has 80 shops in England and Wales.
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