Primark cuts gross sales outlook after UK struggles

Unlock the Editor’s Digest without cost

Primark, the worldwide trend retailer, has blamed cautious shoppers in its core UK market because it minimize its gross sales forecast for 2025.

Related British Meals, the father or mother of Primark, mentioned in a buying and selling replace on Thursday it was now concentrating on “low” single-digit gross sales progress for the style chain in 2025. That is down from the mid-single-digit progress steerage supplied in November.

“Buying and selling exercise inside components of our shopper base was weak on account of cautious client sentiment and an absence of seasonal buying catalyst given the delicate autumn climate,” the corporate mentioned.

ABF, which additionally owns manufacturers Ovaltine and Twinings, mentioned Primark had delivered “good progress” in continental Europe and the US.

Total, Primark’s whole gross sales rose nearly 2 per cent to £3.3bn within the 16 weeks to January 4, helped by new retailer openings. However like-for-like gross sales, a metric which strips out the impact of retailer openings and closures, declined 1.9 per cent in the identical interval.

The corporate mentioned consumers didn’t purchase as many garments in October and November, however gross sales had picked again up throughout the important thing Christmas buying and selling interval.

The style chain’s like-for-like gross sales within the UK and Eire — which account for nearly half of the overall — fell extra sharply, dropping 6 per cent over the 16 weeks. Primark’s share of the overall UK trend market slipped to six.8 per cent.

Shares in ABF have been down 0.4 per cent in early buying and selling.

ABF anticipated Primark’s adjusted working revenue margin in 2025 to stay broadly in keeping with final yr’s degree.

It didn’t change its forecast for the group’s different divisions, which span groceries, substances, sugar and agriculture.