British single price retailer Poundland has today reported a 26% fall in first-half profit, hurt by higher store opening costs.
Poundland said trading conditions in its third quarter so far have been "highly volatile".
The company, which trades as Dealz in Ireland, said the third quarter's performance would depend more than ever upon the last six weeks' trading towards Christmas.
Poundland had previously guided that it expected profit in its 2015-16 year to be phased towards the second half, when it will open less stores than the first half and when comparative sales numbers are also softer.
The firm made a profit before tax and one-off items of £9.3m for the six months to September 27, down from £12.6m the same time last year.
Total sales increased 6.2% to £561.1m but were down 2.8% at stores open over a year.
Poundland opened 55 stores in the UK and Ireland in the first half, compared to 34 in the corresponding period last year.
Following a lengthy competition probe Poundland completed the £55m acquisition of rival 99p Stores in September, adding its 251 stores to about 600 Poundland stores in the UK and nearly 60 shops in Ireland and Spain.
It said today that an incremental core earnings opportunity of at least £25m a year from the deal had already been identified.
