Primark has temporarily shut a fifth of its European stores amid the coronavirus panic as shares in its owner Associated British Foods were suspended today.
The store closures in France, Spain and Austria account for nearly a third of its sales, although the budget clothing retailer is keeping its shops open in Britain for now.
Primark has been forced to close the stores abroad as European governments shut down high streets to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Shares in Associated British Foods were suspended for an hour at 9am today during another bruising day for the markets when the FTSE 100 fell as much as 8.7 per cent.
Other brands which have implemented store closures in parts of the US and Europe include Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Apple, Patagonia, Nike and Lush.
A group of people wearing face masks outside a Primark in Oxford Street in London on Friday
The Primark stores in France, Spain and Austria were expected to make sales of £190million over the next four weeks.
They represent about 20 per cent of Primark’s selling space around the world.
Governments in the three countries have forced all non-essential stores to close as they try to put a lid on the spread of Covid-19, which has infected thousands.
Britain represents 41 per cent of sales, but Primark said it has seen ‘like-for-like sales declines over the last two weeks and these have accelerated over the past few days as a result of reduced footfall’.
The London Stock Exchange said that trading in Associated British Foods (AB Foods) was halted at about 9am after the company’s shares inexplicably fell by 100 per cent to 0.01p.
Shares are typically suspended when there is a rush of trades in a particular company. Circuit breakers can come into effect if a stock falls too far, too quickly.
Analysts speculated that the spectacular drop from 1,834p per share to basically zero could be because a trader hit the wrong button on their computer, a so-called fat-finger error.
Whole stock exchanges have been halted in recent weeks as indexes fell too far because of coronavirus fears.
When they started trading again an hour after being suspended, the shares were back at about 1,600p, about 12 per cent down.
The World Health Organisation last week declared that Europe had become the epicentre of a global pandemic.
The outbreak has also seen sales falling elsewhere, as people stay away from high street shops. This includes the UK, where Primark makes 41 per cent of its sales.
The London Stock Exchange said trading in Associated British Foods (AB Foods) was halted at about 9am today (centre) after the company’s shares inexplicably fell by 100 per cent to 0.01p
‘We are managing the business appropriately but do not expect to significantly mitigate the effect of the contribution lost from these sales,’ AB Foods said.
There was happier news from China. Last month Primark had warned that its factories there were closing, which could have a knock-on effect on its supply chain.
However most of the factories which supply it have now re-opened, the company confirmed today.
‘As a result, supply shortages from that country are now expected to be minimal,’ AB Foods said in a statement.
The company added: ‘Our priority continues to be the health and safety of our colleagues, customers and partners.
‘Each of our businesses are closely monitoring the current and potential effects of the outbreak on their operations.’
AB Foods said that in the first half of the financial year adjusted operating profit will be ahead of previous expectations, as Primark racked up better margins.
Today, Boris Johnson will discuss strengthening coronavirus-tackling measures with officials and could make a decision on shielding elderly citizens, banning mass gatherings and household isolation.
The Prime Minister will chair an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee this afternoon before addressing the first of the daily press conferences being planned to update the public on Covid-19.
As the UK death toll reached 35 on Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that over-70s could be told to stay home for up to four months within the ‘coming weeks’.
The number of confirmed positive tests reached 1,372, but the true figure of people in the UK with the disease is likely to be far higher.
Coronavirus has now infected almost 170,000 people and killed more than 6,000 with several countries going into lockdown as Europe becomes the new epicentre of the outbreak.