When Britain and other countries were plunged into lockdowns this year, the outlook for Associated British Foods looked bleak (Miles Costello writes). It had to pull down the shutters on all 376 of its Primark clothing stores at a cost of £650 million a month in lost turnover.
The phenomenally successful low-cost retailer is the jewel of the FTSE 100 group’s empire, accounting for almost half its £15.8 billion of pre-coronavirus annual revenues and 61 per cent of its adjusted operating profit of £1.5 billion. With no online operation to turn to and the virus escalating, it left ABF looking vulnerable, yet eight months later, the situation has not turned out to be as grim as some had feared.
Associated British Foods was founded as
