LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Associated British Foods plc (ASBFY.PK, ABF.L) Monday said it projects a loss of around 650 million pounds of net sales per month due to the closure of all Primark stores due to Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the company reiterated that in aggregate, it has not seen a material impact in sugar, grocery, ingredients and agriculture businesses.
In its update on trading in Primark stores, the company noted that all 376 Primark stores in 12 countries are now closed until further notice.
Primark stores representing 20 percent of selling space and 30 percent of sales were closed as of March 16. On Sunday, the company closed all stores in the UK which represented 41 percent of sales.
The company said it has established a variety of work streams to mitigate the effect of lost sales. With these, the company currently estimate to be able to recover some 50 percent of total operating costs.
The company also informed suppliers that it will stop placing new orders to manage Primark stock.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX