Primark shoppers buying more clothes, lifting AB Foods profit

[LONDON] Primark shoppers have kept buying larger baskets of clothes since stores of the low-cost fashion chain reopened, bolstering profit at parent company Associated British Foods Plc.

Primark's full-year adjusted operating profit will be at least at the top end of its forecast range of 300 million pounds to 350 million pounds (S$537 million to S$628 million), AB Foods said.

Investors will be cheered that shopping baskets are still bigger than they were last year, even if the effect of an initial boom of pent-up demand after Covid-19 lockdowns has waned.

That's not to say this year is looking great: Sales in the UK, Primark's largest market, are still expected to be 12 per cent lower on a comparable basis in the year through Sept 12. The company expects a significant decline in earnings per share.

Stores that depend on tourists however are still struggling. Before Covid-19, they brought in 13 per cent of sales. After reopening, that's down to 8 per cent.

BLOOMBERG