ABF reports record results

Chief executive George Weston said: "This year's outstanding results represent a step change for the group. A number of major projects will be completed over the coming year which will underpin future profit delivery and provide a platform for further growth. Opportunities for further attractive investment are plentiful and the group has the financial capacity to exploit them." Chairman Charles Sinclair said revenue grew across the group by 10% to over £10bn for the first time with strong underlying trading from all ABF's business segments. Grocery margins had improved, there was an excellent result for the company's sugar business and "an outstanding performance" from the high street fashion retailer Primark. A number of capital projects were completed during the year and had begun to yield results while several projects were still in progress and would continue to drive growth as they came on stream, notably the restructuring of the company's meat business in Australia, sugar capacity expansions in southern Africa and the building of the Vivergo biofuels plant in the UK. A number of further investment opportunities had also been identified, particularly in the developing markets of China and Africa and in new stores for Primark across Europe. L Looking ahead, Sinclair said there was uncertainty about the global economic outlook, especially for western economies, and governmental actions to be taken to reduce budget deficits. "We are cautious of the impact that this, together with VAT increases in Europe, will have on consumer spending," he went on. "We have also seen, recently, significant increases in some commodity prices, particularly cotton and wheat. However, the diversity of the group's operations and its broad geographic spread together with further returns from our capital investments serve to mitigate these pressures. At this stage, therefore, we expect to achieve revenue and profit growth in the coming year." For the 53 weeks ended 18 September, revenue across the group was up 10% to £10.2bn while adjusted pre-tax profit was up 26% to £825m.