AB Foods Expects 1st Half Fiscal Year 2020 Group Sales, Adjusted Operating Profit Ahead
February 24 2020 - 3:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Adriano Marchese
Primark-owner Associated British Foods PLC said Monday that it
expects sales growth for the group and adjusted operating profit
for the first half of its fiscal 2020 to be ahead of the prior
year, but that it expects adjusted earnings per share in the period
to decline.
For the six months ended Feb. 29, the U.K. food-processing and
retail company said that on a reported basis, it expects the
dilutive effect of adopting the IFRS 16 accounting method will
result in a small reduction in adjusted earnings per share.
Sales at Primark for the period are expected to be 4.2% ahead of
the year before at constant currency and 2.5% ahead at actual
exchange rates, the company said. It said growth was driven by
increased retail selling space and level like-for-like sales.
However, operating profit is expected marginally down on the
year before at constant currency and on a lease-adjusted basis, due
to an expected decline in margin, AB Foods said.
The company said it is well stocked with cover for several
months and that it doesn't expect the effects of the novel
coronavirus epidemic to have any short-term impact.
However, it said a number of its food businesses have operations
in China which are operating at reduced capacity due to labor and
logistics constraints.
Looking ahead at the full year, AB Foods said it continues to
expect progress in adjusted earnings per share on both a reported
and lease-adjusted basis.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2020 02:51 ET (07:51 GMT)
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