Primark sales in the Eurozone were 5% ahead of last yearGetty
Primark’s new store in Brooklyn is proving a hit with New York city shoppers after opening its ninth US store in July last year. The UK discount fashion chain said the Kings Plaza store was benefitting from ‘very strong trading’ which, together with its continued expansion in Europe, increased sales by 4%.
Sales at home in the UK rose by 1% in 16 weeks to 5 January after Christmas trading “exceeded expectations”, despite a year-on-year decline in the wider market. Sales in the Eurozone were 5% ahead of last year thanks to an improved performance in France, Belgium and Italy.
Although there was a modest decline in overall like-for-like sales, Primark said increased selling space helped drive sales growth, with four new stores opened in the period in Seville and Algeria in Spain, Toulouse in France and a city centre store in Berlin, Germany. As a result Primark now has 364 stores across 11 countries and trades from 15.1m square feet of space.
Shares in Associated British Foods (ABF), Primark’s parent company, rose by more than 5% in early trading as the food-to-fashion conglomerate kept its outlook for the year unchanged and said it would continue to expand Primark’s footprint, with plans to add an extra 0.9m square feet of selling space this financial year.
The opening of its next US store in American Dream shopping mall in New Jersey has been pushed back to the next financial year while the launch of what will be the world’s largest Primark in Birmingham, measuring at 160,000 square feet, is expected to open in April. The group will also add a 12th country to its list – Slovenia – later this financial year.