Associated British Foods said fourth quarter sales at its Primark fashion business were lower than expected, with shopper numbers hurt by public health measures in its major markets to control the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant in particular.
Primark’s like-for-like sales in the third quarter were 3% ahead of the comparable period two years ago reflecting very strong trading in the UK and those European regions where stores had reopened.
However, it forecast that for the fourth quarter to Sept. 18 Primark’s like-for-like sales would be down 17% on two years ago.
The group said Primark had seen a significant improvement in trading as the quarter progressed, from a weekly decline in like-for-like sales of 24% at the start of the period to a decline of 10% in recent weeks.
In the UK our sales were affected by the rapid and significant increase in late June and early July in the number of people required to self-isolate following contact tracing alerts – the “pingdemic”.
Data shows that high street footfall was impacted by the caution displayed by many consumers at that time. The self-isolation rules were then eased in early August. Correspondingly, like-for-like sales showed a consistent improvement through the period from a decline of 24% in the first four weeks of the quarter to a decline of 8% in the last four weeks. Data for the UK clothing, footwear and accessories markets, which includes all channel and online sales, for the 12 weeks from 31 May to 22 August showed that Primark had the same value share of the total market compared to the same period two years ago.
