AB Foods Plans More Than 130 New Primark Stores in Next Five Years -- 2nd Update
November 09 2021 - 5:27AM
Dow Jones News
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
Associated British Foods PLC said on Tuesday that it will
accelerate the expansion of its Primark clothing chain in the U.S.
and Europe and that it has enough stock to cover the important
Christmas trading period.
The British conglomerate expects to grow its retail-store estate
from the 398 sites it had in September to 530 over the next five
years.
The company plans to increase its selling space by 0.5 million
square feet in the current fiscal year, with eleven store openings
confirmed, mostly in Europe. ABF said it also sees considerable
growth potential in the U.S.
"This financial year we are committed to opening a store on
Jamaica Avenue, Queens and have already signed four further leases
to expand our reach in the greater New York area and a lease for a
store in Tyson's Corner, Washington," it said.
The group had 13 Primark stores in the U.S. as at Sept. 18, up
from nine a year earlier.
ABF disclosed its plans as the company reported higher profits
for the fiscal year ended Sept. 18, as Primark earnings rose, and
declared a special dividend alongside the ordinary payment.
ABF--which also houses the Twinings tea, Ovaltine and Patak's
brands in its grocery portfolio--made a pretax profit of 725
million pounds ($983.4 million) in fiscal 2021, up from GBP686
million a year earlier. Revenue was broadly flat at GBP13.88
billion.
Adjusted operating profit fell 1% to GBP1.01 billion. Primark's
adjusted operating profit was up 15% at GBP415 million. Analysts at
RBC Capital Markets said that earnings for the entire group and for
the Primark business were better than expected.
Shares at 0950 GMT were up 6.2% at 1,974 pence.
AB Foods said that it expects Primark trading to continue to
improve, with sales recovering at least the GBP2 billion lost due
to store closures in the last fiscal year, which should lead to
Primark's adjusted operating margin rising above 10%.
The FTSE 100 group warned that the retail unit is seeing
supply-chain issues and raw material and labor inflation, but it
expects this to be broadly mitigated by currency gains arising from
a weaker U.S. dollar. ABF added that it is working to offset these
impacts through cost savings and that its food businesses will
implement price increases where necessary. The company said that
supply chain disruption is causing limited availability on some
lines, but inventories provide enough stock cover for the Christmas
period.
"Taking these factors into account, we expect significant
progress, at both the half and full year, in adjusted operating
profit and adjusted earnings per share for the group," it said.
The company declared a final dividend of 20.5 pence a share and
a special dividend of 13.8 pence, bringing combined full-year
payments to 40.5 pence. The special distribution is in connection
with a new capital cash allocation policy which is based on the
group's strong balance sheet and confidence in the future, ABF
said.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com;
@JaimeLlinaresT
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 09, 2021 05:12 ET (10:12 GMT)
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