Sales of fashion giant Primark rose 60% year-on-year in the first half – when stores remained open, unlike the string of Covid shutdowns it saw the year before.
The best result reflected the fact that all Primark stores remained open and operating throughout the period, with the exception of short breaks in Austria and the Netherlands.
Primark’s operating profit margin in the first half is expected to be 11%, but this is believed to decline in the second half due to additional inflationary pressures.
Associated British Foods, which owns Primark, has revealed that the negative impact of inflation on raw materials and the supply chain in the first half was largely mitigated by lowering store operating costs and Primark’s overheads.
In January, the group said it would not raise prices for the spring/summer season, although several of its competitors, such as Superdry and Next, plan to raise prices.
Primark, which markets exclusively through its traditional stores, said “customer numbers are increasing again in most markets, particularly the UK and Ireland” in the wake of the disruption caused by the Omicron outbreak.
UK store sales were “well ahead of last year”, while likes are expected to be 9% below pre-pandemic levels two years ago and total sales down 8%.
The retailer said stores in retail parks and city centers continued to outperform destination downtown stores and similar stores in retail parks were ahead of pre-Covid levels.
ABF.po said sales at Primark’s European businesses were also well above the 20 US companies that continue to outperform the rest of the stores.
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source: Retail Newspaper
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