AB Foods lifts guidance again as Primark recovers

by | Sep 12, 2023

(Sharecast News) – UK conglomerate Associated British Foods lifted annual guidance again boosted by recovery at its Primark retail chain and strong performance from food operations.

AB Foods said it now expected full-year adjusted operating profit to be “slightly better” than previous guidance, when it said earnings would be “moderately ahead” of 2021/22’s £1.43bn.

Primark like-for-like sales growth for the financial year is now tipped to be around 9%, with like-for-like sales likely to be around 7% in the second half. For the financial year as a whole, sales are forecast to be around 15% ahead year on year, it added.

“These higher sales are the result of limited and carefully selected price increases through this financial year to partially recover high levels of input cost inflation, assisted by a strong performance from new stores opened in the year, and by demand for our attractive ranges,” the company said.

However it said adjusted operating profit margin would be weaker in the second half due to higher-than-expected stock loss from stores across its estate and a modest amount of German restructuring costs, coming in at slightly below 8% and the same figure for the full financial year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

Related articles

Latest Articles

US open: Stocks steady as inflation continues to ebb

US open: Stocks steady as inflation continues to ebb

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street was on a firmer footing on the last trading day of the third quarter as a key inflation indicator printed slightly below the consensus forecasts. "The September rut in stock indices paused into quarter end as both Eurozone and the Fed's...

FTSE 100 movers: Severn Trent, JD Sports rally

FTSE 100 movers: Severn Trent, JD Sports rally

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,642.68 in afternoon trade on Friday. Severn Trent was the standout performer on the index after saying it was seeking to raise £1bn for a transformation plan expected to create 7,000 jobs across the Midlands. JD...

Annual UK property sales fall in August – HMRC

Annual UK property sales fall in August – HMRC

(Sharecast News) - Annual house sales fell sharply in August, provisional government data showed on Friday. According to HM Revenue and Customs, the seasonally-adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions was 87,010 last month. That was a 1% uptick on July 2023...

BofA Merrill Lynch upgrades Marks & Spencer to ‘buy’

BofA Merrill Lynch upgrades Marks & Spencer to ‘buy’

(Sharecast News) - Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded Marks & Spencer on Friday to 'buy' from 'neutral' as it argued the stock is still too cheap and consensus earnings too low. The bank said that despite the stock's outperformance year-to-date, it believes that...

Retail sales climb as September heatwave fades – BDO

Retail sales climb as September heatwave fades – BDO

(Sharecast News) - High street sales pushed higher last week, industry research showed on Friday, as delayed autumn spending finally looked to have got underway. According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose by 5.51% in the week...

Join our mailing list

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive regular updates!

No Fields Found.
x