Appetite for value sends Primark's sales soaring

Associated British Foods, which owns the retail chain alongside well-known brands such as Twinings, Kingsmill and Silver Spoon, said Primark's improvement in the period reflected store expansion and "very good" growth in like-for-like sales, particularly at its shops in the UK and Spain.

It traded from 196 sites at the start of this year, following the opening of stores at Cambridge and Wood Green, as well as at Frankfurt, Porto and its first shop in Belgium.

Shares in AB Foods opened two per cent higher after it described recent trading for the business as a whole as "very encouraging" and ahead of expectations. Revenues were up 17 per cent - 11 per cent at constant exchange rates - as revenues grew by 68 per cent in its sugar operation and by 11 per cent at its food ingredients business.

It expects good revenues growth and a significant increase in operating profits for this financial year, which ends in September.

However, the company added: "There remains uncertainty over the pace of economic recovery and the outlook for the UK consumer.

The Twinings and Ovaltine brands achieved "excellent" revenues growth as the group's grocery division posted a rise of four per cent on a year earlier.