Primark owner Associated British Foods suspends shares after releasing bruising coronavirus report
Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods were suspended yesterday after it released a bruising report into the effects of coronavirus on its business.
It said it expected to take a £190million sales hit in the next four weeks alone from stores it has closed to prevent the spread of the disease.
A ‘fat finger’ error – where a trader carries out an erroneous trade – drove shares in AB Foods from 1834p per share to zero at around 9am.
Primark owner Associated British Foods said it expected to take a £190m sales hit in the next four weeks alone from stores it has closed to prevent the spread of the disease
The shares were suspended for half an hour and the price reset. The stock closed down 5.2 per cent, or 95p, at 1739.5p.
In its statement to the market yesterday, AB Foods said it has closed Primark stores in Italy, France, Spain and Austria.
It said these stores accounted for 20 per cent of its selling space and 30 per cent of revenues.
The firm added; ‘The remainder of the estate, including the UK which represents 41 percent of sales, 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.’
AB Foods said it was unable to provide full-year guidance but said most of its Chinese factories were now open.