Associated British Foods, which warned on profit earlier this month, confirmed today that underlying sales at its Primark clothing business fell 2.7% in the Christmas quarter.
Primark trades as Penneys here.
When AB Foods issued its profit warning on January 8, it published sales estimates for the 16 weeks to January 3. Final figures were published today.
The warning, which sent AB Foods' shares down 14%, was due to weaker-than-expected Primark sales and subdued demand in the US for its cooking oils and bakery ingredients.
It cast a shadow over the group's plans to separate Primark from its food business - which includes grocery brands such as Ovaltine, Ryvita and Twinings, as well as major sugar, agriculture and ingredients units.
The group said in November it was conducting a review of its structure and hoped to decide by April 21 when first-half results are reported. However, CEO George Weston said the "working assumption" was a separation would happen.
Today's update made some adjustments from the January 8 statement.
Total retail revenue was up 4.2% over the 16 weeks compared to a previous estimate of up 4%, sugar revenue was down 4.3% versus a previous estimate of down 2%, ingredients revenue was down 2.9%, versus a previous estimate of down 3%, and agriculture revenue was down 4.1% versus a previous estimate of down 4%.
Grocery revenue was flat, confirming the previous estimate.
