British Foods maintains strong Primark growth

Associated British Foods banked a 5% rise in profits today after expanding its Primark clothing chain and seeing a recovery for its sugar business.

The company, which owns Silver Spoon, reported adjusted half-year pre-tax profits of £268m (€394.5m), up from £255m (€375.4m) last year, while revenues grew 12% to £3.22bn (€4.74bn).

Budget clothing retailer Primark saw profits soar by 28% at £91m (€13.4bn) after it opened 23 new stores in the year, although like-for-like sales were flat because of the impact of opening new stores close to older stores. Five outlets were shut in the period.

The chain, which now has 161 stores and makes up around 40% of group profits, is now coming to the end of a rapid expansion programme, which included the acquisition and conversion of 41 Littlewoods sites. All but four of these are now trading as Primark.