// Primark revenues skyrockets to £1.6bn for the 16 weeks to June 19
// Primark’s like-for-like sales also up 3% on a two-year basis in the quarter
// The retailer cited the easing of lockdown restrictions for its better-than-expected Q3 performance
Several new sales records were set in Primark stores following the easing of lockdown restrictions, the owner of the high street retailer said.
AB Foods said sales in its value retail business in the 16 weeks to June 19 hit £1.6 billion, “reflecting an increase in both confidence and willingness to spend by our customers”.
This compares to the £600,000 in sales recorded in the same period last year, prompting AB Foods to raise the full-year profit outlook for Primark as trading in the latest quarter beat management expectations.
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AB Foods said Primark’s full-year adjusted operating profit is now expected to be broadly in line with 2019-20, versus previous guidance of “somewhat lower”.
The firm attributed Primark’s strong third quarter performance to the reopening of retail in the seven-week period from April 12 – when shops first started to reopen in England and Wales – compared with the equivalent period in 2019 when the UK and much of the world was under the first of several lockdowns amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
AB Foods also said a number of new sales records were set and that Primark’s like-for-like performance in the third quarter was up three per cent compared to pre-pandemic 2019, reflecting an increase in both confidence and willingness to spend by customers.
However, AB Foods said volatility remained high and performance varied by region depending on the varying levels of Covid-19 restrictions still in place.
The firm said data for the total UK clothing market, which includes online sales, for the seven-week period after reopening showed Primark had made both volume and value share gains on a two-year basis.
AB Foods also confirmed it was committed to repaying £96 million worth of staff furlough funding by the end of the financial year.
This is below the estimate of £121 million the firm had expected to repay earlier this year.
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