Primark helps AB Foods lift its revenues January 19, 2012 DISCOUNT fashion chain Primark hailed strong sales during the festive period, helping its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) post a rise in first quarter revenue. The FTSE 100 company, which also owns brands including Silver Spoon sugar and Twinings tea, said a 16 per cent growth in sales at Primark helped boost group revenues [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 12, 2011 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Panmure Gordon rates the owner of Silver Spoon and Twinings as a “buy” and said it remained confident of its 14 per cent earnings per growth forecast for the year. ABF last week confirmed that trading for the first two months of the year is in line with expectations and that it [...]
FTSE holds gains as Italy nears crisis November 8, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index rose yesterday, as earnings from UK corporates such as Lloyds Banking Group and Vodafone were received positively by investors, although Eurozone worries meant gains were vulnerable to profit taking. Miners and integrated oils, rising with commodity prices, also helped the UK’s benchmark index close up 56.52 points, or one per cent [...]
Sugar arm is sweet spot for AB Foods November 8, 2011 RECORD profits at Associated British Foods’ (ABF) sugar arm have helped offset weaker results at its discount-clothing chain Primark, which was hit after the group chose not to pass the rise in cotton prices onto shoppers. Primark’s profits slumped by eight per cent to £309m in the year to 17 September, after its operating profit [...]
Boards are in the spotlight October 11, 2011 THE DIVERSITY policies of several UK firms that still have no female board members will be in focus today, as they receive a letter from the Prime Minister urging them to make clear their plans for change. Lord Mervyn Davies recommended in February that women should make up a quarter of boards of FTSE 100-listed firms [...]
Family businesses see sales hike August 17, 2011 THE economy may be weighed down by high inflation and unemployment but family owned businesses appear to be weathering the storm. The top 10 family owned firms all increased their sales in the last year. Total sales for the UK’s biggest family-owned businesses rose 10.2 per cent to £35.5bn, driven by a strong performance from the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 17, 2011 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Nomura said the recent run of group earnings downgrades looks to be coming to an end. It said like-for-like sales growth of between 2-3 per cent in ABF’s retail division and favourable EU sugar pricing would offset weakness in its ingredients division. It said it was optimistic about a recovery in 2012 [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 19, 2011 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Credit Suisse rates the retail group “overweight” with a target price of £10.60. The broker expects underlying group earnings to reach £353m, a rise of 6.6 per cent on last year, when ABF reports half-year results next Wednesday. It thinks like-for-like sales at Primark will be down three per cent, with the [...]
AB Foods hit by slowdown at Primark February 28, 2011 A SLOWDOWN at Primark’s British stores hit the shares of owner Associated British Foods (ABF) yesterday as tax rises and inflation squeezed consumer spending. The budget retailer’s like-for-like sales growth slowed to three per cent in its first half. Primark has been a star performer for the company but with materials like cotton spiralling in [...]
AB Foods hits £10bn but warns over price rises November 9, 2010 THE company behind clothes chain Primark and kitchen staples such as Kingsmill bread and Ovaltine yesterday reported that sales passed £10bn for the first time. Revenues at Associated British Foods (ABF) rose 10 per cent to £10.2bn in the 53 weeks to 18 September, while profits jumped 26 per cent to £825m. That allowed ABF [...]