Associated British Foods Sees Fiscal Year 2022 Adjusted Profit Rising on Sales Growth
September 08 2022 - 3:18AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Hoppe
Associated British Foods PLC said Thursday that its fiscal 2022
adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share are
expected to surpass the previous year's on strong sales growth, and
that it anticipates rising sales, but declining profit, in fiscal
2023.
The U.K. conglomerate said group revenue for the year ending
Sept. 17 is expected to be well above the 13.88 billion pounds
($16.01 billion) in the prior year.
ABF's Primark business's total sales for fiscal 2022 are
expected to be around 40% above the previous year's, at about
GBP7.7 billion with a full-year operating margin of 9.6%,
reflecting the end of coronavirus-related restrictions and
normalization of consumer behavior, the company said.
Primark's U.K. like-for-like sales improved in the fourth
quarter to near-prepandemic levels, though continental Europe
like-for-like sales were weaker than expected in the fourth
quarter.
The company reported higher food-business revenue, reflecting
price actions and some volume increases, particularly in
ingredients.
For fiscal 2023, ABF expects significant growth in sales, though
it foresees declines in adjusted operating profit and adjusted
earnings per share.
Food-business profit is expected to rise with significant
further input cost inflation and pricing actions, along with
additional investment in growth initiatives and higher marketing
spend. However, despite expecting sales growth, declining consumer
disposable income due to inflation and a commercial decision to
limit further pricing actions will hit the operating profit margin
for Primark, the company said.
The board will consider in November whether it has surplus cash
and capital to return to shareholders, it said.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 08, 2022 03:03 ET (07:03 GMT)
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