Value retail giant Primark is going from strength to strength. The fashion chain is performing particularly well in the UK and is benefitting from the currency shifts that have seen the pound becoming weaker since the EU referendum vote a year ago. New or expanded stores accounted for 13 per cent more selling space in the period and at actual exchange rates, sales are 21 per cent ahead year-to-date.
Overall, the second half is turning out to be better than the first half and year-to-date sales in Britain are nine per cent ahead, with the firm continuing to increase its share of the total clothing market. The pound’s fall may have boosted turnover but it also increased the cost of goods that Primark had to buy-in from abroad. The first half operating profit margin of ten per cent declined from 11.7 per cent in last year’s first half, reflecting the strength of the US dollar on input costs.
Primark has continued to open stores fast and has added 1.3 million sq ft of selling space since the beginning of the financial year. As of June 24, it had 339 stores trading from 13.6 million sq ft of sales space. It opened 10 locations in the third quarter alone, including two in the UK, Spain, Netherlands and US plus one each in Belgium and Italy.
