Associated British Foods PLC, owner of the Primark discount fashion store chain, on Friday reiterated its annual outlook.

AB Foods still expects significant sales growth, but adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share to be lower than the previous financial year.

In a trading update ahead of the company’s annual general meeting, Chair Michael McLintock said he expects ‘further significant’ input cost inflation, but said the volatility of input costs has ‘diminished’. AB Foods expects the aggregate profit of its Food businesses to be higher than last financial year.

Primark trading has been encouraging, he noted, and ABF is on track to open 27 new Primark stores in the year - 10 of these in the run-up to Christmas, with 6 already opened.

In its most recent annual results release published in November, ABF said revenue for the financial year that ended September 17 climbed 22% to £17.00 billion from £13.88 billion a year prior. Pretax profit jumped 48% to £1.08 billion from £725 million. Operating costs rose 21% to £15.73 billion from £13.00 billion.

The firm back then noted that cost inflation had eaten away £1 billion from profit so far at that time.

Associated British Foods shares were 0.4% lower at 1,647.50 pence each on Friday morning in London.

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