DUBLIN-BASED BUDGET fashion chain Primark, which trades as Penneys in the Irish market, is on track to increase its like-for-like sales by 4 per cent in the first half of its fiscal year, its parent, Associated British Foods (ABF), said yesterday.
ABF, which also has major grocery and agribusiness interests, said interim sales and profits in its fashion business were "substantially ahead of last year". Christmas trading was ahead of expectations, it said.
While other retailers suffered in the holiday season, Primark's pricing model is perceived to have appealed to cash-strapped shoppers. Its performance compares favourably with rival Marks & Spencer, which last month reported its worst quarterly performance for two years and warned of more to come.
The 4 per cent increase in Primark sales at stores open for more than a year was significantly higher than the 1 per cent gain seen in the year to September 2007. Managed from Dublin by veteran retailer Arthur Ryan, Primark had revenues of £1.6 billion (€2.13 billion) last year and £200 million in operating profits.
ABF said Primark was helped by the expansion of its retail space in Ireland, Spain and Britain. It has opened a new Penneys store in Cork and expanded its Tralee outlet since September.
Penneys had 37 stores in Republic at that time, having opened two stores and increased its retail space by 100,000sq ft to 800,000sq ft.
ABF does not provide financial information about the performance of the business in Ireland.
"We expect to open a further eight stores in the second half, including four stores in Spain," the company said in a preclose trading update yesterday.
Chief financial officer John Bason there was "a lot of room" to add more Primark stores in Britain and expected the retailer to expand "quickly" in Spain.
