The British conglomerate AB Foods
Within ABF, the company has two great business areas, said company boss George Weston, the grandson of the company founder, when presenting annual figures on Tuesday. The grocery business has an “extremely attractive portfolio”, even if it is less well understood by the financial markets than Primark.
Part of the decision was related to Primark’s size, which accounts for the majority of the conglomerate’s operating profits, added chairman Michael McLintock. According to company information, the largest shareholder Wittington Investments – the investment company of the wealthy Weston family – wants to maintain the majority stake in both business areas.
Meanwhile, the company earned significantly less in the last financial year. The company was particularly troubled by the low price of sugar. Sales fell by three percent year-on-year to just under 19.46 billion British pounds (22.2 billion euros) for the full year to September 13th.
Operating profit adjusted for special effects fell by 13 percent to 1.73 billion British pounds. Analysts had expected a sharper decline. The company expects an increase in earnings for the current year. The bottom line is that shareholders received a profit of over one billion pounds for the year as a whole. That was almost 30 percent less than the previous year.