Associated British Foods the owner of Primark estimates that it will lose £375m as a result of the current lockdowns across Europe.
In a statement released ahead of its results to be published tomorrow the group said that as of today, all Primark stores in the Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium, Wales, Catalonia in Spain and Slovenia are temporarily closed, which represent 19% of our total retail selling space.
The announced period of closure varies by market.
The UK Government announced its intention to close non-essential shops in England for one month from 5 November to 2 December. Assuming that this will be passed by the UK Parliament on 4 November, 57% of our total selling space will be temporarily closed from 5 November.
Our estimated loss of sales for these stores, including the stores in England, for the announced periods of closure is £375m.
Trading hours are also restricted in a number of other markets. Uncertainty about further temporary store closures in the short-term remains.
We are implementing the operational plans developed to manage the consequences of these closures and appropriate action will be taken to reduce operating costs. All orders placed with our suppliers will be honoured.
At the year end the group had net cash before lease liabilities of £1,558m. Excluding debt, the group had gross cash before lease liabilities of £2,030m which, together with £1,088m of undrawn committed Revolving Credit Facilities provide £3,118m of group liquidity.
