Associated British Foods’ third-quarter revenue came in at £5.3bn, broadly flat ignoring exchange rate impacts. Low single-digit growth across its Retail, Grocery and Ingredients businesses was offset by sharper declines in its smaller Sugar and Agriculture businesses.
Primark's revenue rose 3.0% to £2.9bn, driven entirely by new store openings. On a like-for-like basis, revenue was down 2.2% (-3.7% expected) due to a challenging retail environment across most of its markets, particularly in Europe.
Previously downgraded full-year guidance was reiterated, with ABF expecting underlying operating profit to land below last year’s level of £1.7bn (consensus: £1.5bn). Within that, the Sugar business is now expected to post an underlying operating loss of between £25-60mn due to continued oversupply in Europe and higher gas prices due to the Middle East conflict.
The shares fell 2.5% in early trading.
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Associated British Foods key facts
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