Mixed fortunes for groceries and garments at ABF

The diversified food, ingredients and retail group whose interests range from beet sugar to affordable fashion, said its half year results to the end of February would show the impact of consumer downtrading on a number of its businesses more than offsetting good performances by the Twinings Ovaltine and Allied Bakeries brand groups. The American food business ACH would also see margins squeezed substantially. However, there was good growth in the group’s sugar and ingredients businesses and a better than forecast result in the agricultural division. The bargain fashion store chain Primark would again deliver excellent results. In the UK, the beet sugar business enjoyed an excellent campaign with the sugar crop, estimated at 1.2 million tonnes, higher than expected. The operations set new performance records and profit benefited from a much lower net energy cost At Primark, first half sales were “substantially ahead of last year” although the increased overhead of the company’s new distribution centre at Thrapston would be reflected in a lower operating profit margin. Since last year end Primark has opened six new stores: three in Spain (bringing the total there to 12), High Wycombe and Corby in the UK and the first store in the Netherlands. A further seven stores are due to be opened in the second half, three in the UK, two more in Spain and the first stores in Germany and Portugal.