Associated British Foods, the owner of the Primark fashion chain and Twinings Tea, has seen its profit before tax for its 2016/17 financial year rise 51% to £1.58 billion.
This figure was boosted by profit on the sale of businesses during the financial year, with statutory operating profit up 21% to £1.34 billion.
Group revenue was up 6% on a constant currency basis to £15.4 billion in the year to 16 September 2017.
‘International Diversity’
“This was a highly successful year for the group. These results reflect our international diversity, and the strong underlying performance of our businesses was driven by management actions throughout the year,” said George Weston, chief executive at Associated British Foods.
“Capital investment was a record as we continued to pursue the opportunities to grow our businesses into the future.”
Divisional Performance
The group’s Grocery business was boosted by the performance of Twinings and Ovaltine in the US, as well as by George Weston Foods in Australia, however it was held back by ‘the trading environment faced by the UK bakeries’, the company said.
Its Primark business opened a net 30 stores across the period, including some 1.5 million square feet of selling space, across nine countries.
‘ The Primark management team also had further success in mitigating
currency headwinds, they delivered on-trend fashion and their stores have never looked better. We look forward to further growth
in the coming year,’ the company said.
Two disposals took place in the period, its US herbs and spices business in November 2016, and its sugar operations in south China in December 2016.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
