The owners of Primark and Penneys, Associated British Foods, reported a 39% increase in profits during the first half of the year, partly due to a resurgence in their clothing chain margins. On Tuesday, they predicted substantial profit growth for the entire year. The conglomerate also owns significant operations in sugar, grocery, agriculture and ingredients sectors. Their primary profit measure, adjusted operating profit, amounted to £951 million (€1.1 billion) in the six months leading up to March 2nd, with a 2% rise in revenue to £9.73 billion. They stated that their strong first-half performance is on course to exceed the beginning of the financial year’s expectations, in both profit and cash generation. Initially, they expected ‘meaningful progress’ in yearly profit. Primark experienced a 7.5% increase in first-half revenue to £4.5 billion, with a 2.1% surge in like-for-like sales and margin recovery to 11.3%, up from 8.3%.
