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Primark shines at Associated British Foods
Archived article dated Tuesday April 21st 2009
Group revenues are up 18 per cent to £4.3bn at Associated British Foods, parent company of Primark among other brands, for the 24 weeks to 28 February.
Adjusted profit before tax was down 2 per cent to £275m. Operating profit was down 7% to £260m, profit before tax down 33% to £178m and basic earnings per share down 31% to 17.6p reflecting a charge for the sale and closure of two US businesses
Primark saw revenue increase by 18% to £1.06bn with profits up by 10% to £122m. Trading over Christmas was ahead of expectations and revenue in the first half was substantially ahead of last year, reflecting the increase in retail selling space and a 5% increase in like-for-like sales, says the company.
“This is a reassuring set of results achieved in a difficult economic environment. Strong profit growth was delivered by Sugar and Primark but Grocery was adversely affected by high priced contracts in US cornoil. Good progress was made with the capital investment programme which will be a major contributor to our future growth,” says ABF chief executive George Weston.
“The economic background to trading during the first half of the year has been the most difficult for 50 years or more. Given these conditions, the performance of our businesses has been encouraging and demonstrates the overall resilience of the group. The geographic spread and diversity of our food manufacturing businesses and our interest in value retailing position us better than many to face this demanding environment,” says chairman Martin Adamson, who retires from the company today.
Tagged as: Primark | Associated British Food
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