Published 23rd Apr 2024, 09:09 BST

Associated British Foods, which also owns household brands spanning from British Sugar to Blue Dragon and Dorset Cereals, said consumers remain under some pressure from the cost-of-living crisis.

The company revealed its pre-tax profit hit £881m in the six months to March, up 37 per cent compared with the same period last year.

It said this was a consequence of investment in previous years on expanding its stores and making parts of the supply chain like warehouses more efficient.

The owner of Primark has seen half-year earnings soar by more than a third, as it launched new stores, lifted prices and hailed the return of better business conditions. (Photo by Nicholas .T. Ansell/PA Wire)

Group revenues ticked up 5 per cent at constant currency to £9.7bn, driven by demand across its retail and food businesses.

Sales at Primark were lifted by newly opened stores and price rises put through on some clothing lines last year, as part of efforts to cushion the impact of cost inflation.

Shoppers put slightly fewer items in their baskets over the period as households continue to see incomes squeezed.

AB Foods chief executive George Weston said it is a “very strong set of financial results” as the group benefits from the “restoration of some normality in our markets and in our supply chains”.

He said this was being seen in a reduction in shipping costs, and supply chain disruption easing since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The impact of recent attacks on container ships in the Red Sea has had much less impact than it feared, adding less than a week’s delay to some shipments from China and South-East Asia, Mr Weston added.

Primark owner sees its profits soar as UK business conditions improve

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