ABF Associated British Foods Plc

By Matteo Castia

Associated British Foods PLC reported Tuesday a sharp fall in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2020, slowed by an inventory-related impairment amid the lockdown and other exceptional charges, and said that it expects lower results for the full year than previously anticipated.

The British conglomerate--which houses clothing retailer Primark--made a pretax profit of 289 million pounds ($360 million) for the 24 weeks ended Feb. 29, compared with GBP515 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the period rose 2% year-on-year to GBP7.65 billion, while adjusted earnings per share--one of the company's preferred metrics which strips out exceptional and other one off-items--stood at 61.8 pence, from the 61.1 pence recorded the previous year.

Adjusted pretax profit was GBP636 million. This compares with GBP627 million the prior year.

The board decided not to declare an interim dividend. The prior year, it stood at 12.05 pence.

The company said that expectations regarding its sugar, grocery, ingredients and agriculture businesses remain unchanged for the second half, and that it will be able "to mitigate half of the operating costs of the Primark business while the stores remain closed."

AB Foods reiterated its warning over slashed full-year earnings, already seen "much lower than envisaged at the start of the financial year" in a statement earlier this month.

Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2020 02:40 ET (06:40 GMT)

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