Primark to lift profit at AB Foods April 21, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods’ (ABF) booming high street chain Primark is expected to reveal a 21 per cent jump in first half operating profits this week, helping to offset falling profits at its troubled sugar business. The FTSE 100 owner Twinings tea and Kingsmill bread, which will report its half year results tomorrow, guided in February [...]
LondonMetric signs Primark pre-let April 1, 2014 Property developer LondonMetric has signed a deal to build a huge distribution centre in Northamptonshire for a “top 25 retailer” understood to be Primark. The warehouse on the A16 in Islip will span 1.06m square feet – the size of around 38 football pitches – and has been pre-let to Primark on a 25 year [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 March 2014 March 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS UBS hails the retail and sugar group as a “buy” and raises its target from 2,890p to 3,300p. The broker thinks Primark is still at an early stage of its growth trajectory and believes the fashion business alone is worth [...]
Stellar Primark growth offsets falling sugar sales at AB Foods February 24, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) said yesterday that first half profits will be in line with forecasts after a standout performance at its clothing chain Primark helped offset falling profits at its sugar business. Sales at Primark, which launched its first two stores in France in the period, were up 13 per cent, driven by new [...]
What you need to know before the open February 24, 2014 European markets are expected marginally lower this morning, following Asian counterparts, which were left unsatisfied by the G20’s commitment of an extra $2 trillion in output over the next five years. The UK market posted its third successive gain last week, but things in the rest of Europe and the US weren’t as positive, following [...]
Primark sweetens outlook for AB Foods as sugar disappoints February 24, 2014 Associated British Foods has reported that it expects operating profits for the first half of the year to be in line with that of the previous year. The company expects low profits from sugar to be offset by a stella performance from Primark. Primark enjoyed strong sales in the first half and they are expected [...]
Fortnum & Mason owners take home windfall £91m dividend February 10, 2014 THE CANADIAN owners of Fortnum & Mason and Associated British Foods took home £91m in dividends last year after a strong performance across its investments. Accounts filed recently on Companies House reveal that Wittington Investments, one of the main investment vehicles of the Weston Family, paid out £53m in the year to 14 September compared [...]
H&M profits miss forecasts after splashing out on its new brands January 30, 2014 HENNES & Mauritz (H&M) yesterday blamed “substantial long-term investments” in new brands, technology and its online business for lower than expected profits. The Swedish retailer said pre-tax profit rose 11 per cent to 7.3bn Swedish crowns in the year to 30 November, missing analyst forecasts of around 7.6bn crowns. Gross margin also disappointed, falling to [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 January 2014 January 20, 2014 AB FOODS UBS has given Associated British Foods a buy rating and lifted its price target to 2,890p, based on a stellar performance from Primark. UBS said the low-priced “fast fashion” chain was being rolled out throughout Europe and its first French store opening was one of its best to date. RENTOKIL Peel Hunt has [...]
UK retail sales increase at strongest rate since February 2010 in December January 17, 2014 Christmas was a pretty mixed bag for some retailers, but figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that the squeeze on consumers is easing, and they were able to make the most of bargain and discount shopping. December retail sales jumped 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, up 2.6 per cent in the [...]