ABF reveals 4% rise in FY profit

3rd Nov 2009 07:28

Primark owner Associated British Foods reported a 4% rise in full year adjusted pre-tax profit and added it was confident of progress for the year ahead.Adjusted profit before tax rose to £655m for year ended 12 September 2009 while group revenue for the period rose 12% to £9.3bn. Growth was driven primarily by increased sugar sales and good demand at Primark.Looking ahead to future trading, the group said, "The likely scale and speed of economic recovery remains uncertain, and we are cautious about the outlook for the UK consumer over the next year.""However, we expect good revenue and operating profit growth with the benefit of returns from our recent long-term investments and restructuring together with improvement in our Chinese and US businesses. Net financing costs will be higher but we are confident of progress in earnings for the full year," the group added.A total dividend payment of 21p has been offered, up 4% from last time.