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ABF Associated British Foods Plc

2,491.00
-23.00 (-0.91%)
Last Updated: 13:15:10
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Associated British Foods Plc LSE:ABF London Ordinary Share GB0006731235 ORD 5 15/22P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  -23.00 -0.91% 2,491.00 2,490.00 2,492.00 2,509.00 2,484.00 2,509.00 259,422 13:15:10
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Textile Goods, Nec 19.75B 1.04B 1.3790 18.02 18.81B
Associated British Foods Plc is listed in the Textile Goods sector of the London Stock Exchange with ticker ABF. The last closing price for Associated British Foods was 2,514p. Over the last year, Associated British Foods shares have traded in a share price range of 1,807.00p to 2,536.00p.

Associated British Foods currently has 757,077,752 shares in issue. The market capitalisation of Associated British Foods is £18.81 billion. Associated British Foods has a price to earnings ratio (PE ratio) of 18.02.

Associated British Foods Share Discussion Threads

Showing 351 to 370 of 3350 messages
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DateSubjectAuthorDiscuss
28/6/2007
09:59
guru - you must be joking. ABF has risen 25%ca. since this venture was first announced a year ago. Long term, this is an excellent strategy, whereas Primark is a short term approach. Let's do what we are good at. We just got lucky with retailing.
idioterna
28/6/2007
09:54
Maybe it is this latest venture that is surpressing the share price ??
guru11
28/6/2007
09:50
Lets hope the Primark profits are not eaten up by the venture above, although it could be a good venture in the medium term. Surely Primark revenues and profits must rise in the next results around - just look at what welshbob says above. Who is going to buy a pair of pants in M&S at twice the price of that in Primark?

Although I must say that some of their stuff is what I would call adequate quality, but who wants a Rolls Royce pair of pants. But I bought a pair of suite trousers in Asda for just £6, instead of around £25 in M&S, maybe not quite like for like but they fit my needs and price bracket and the last ones lasted months and months, wearing them day in day out.

Are ABF going to sell Primark off - cause selling this gem could be a big mistake.

Primark has been an excellent side line, however I am afraid that businesses going into too many sidelines like boitech fuel, may be not too wise. Look at M&S when they went into America.

guru11
26/6/2007
07:09
ABF in joint venture to build £200m UK biofuel plant

Associated British Foods plc ('ABF'), the international food, ingredients and
retail group has today announced that it has reached agreement with BP and
DuPont on an investment to build a world-scale biofuel plant in the UK. A joint
venture will be formed, subject to regulatory approval, to build the plant and
operate the business. ABF and BP will each hold 45% of the joint venture and
DuPont will hold the remaining 10%.

The plant will produce bioethanol from wheat and will be built at a cost of
£200m at BP's chemicals site at Saltend, Hull. Its capacity will be 420m litres
(330,000 tonnes) of bioethanol per year and is planned to come on stream in late
2009. ABF expects a return on its investment ahead of its cost of capital in
the first full year of operation.

The plant will initially produce bioethanol, but the partners will look at the
feasibility of converting it to biobutanol once the technology is available. BP
and DuPont intend to build a jointly funded biobutanol demonstration plant,
which will run in parallel with the main plant, to support this objective.

It is expected that formal agreements will be entered into by the joint venture,
after its formation, with other ABF businesses: Frontier Agriculture and AB
Agri. The supply of locally grown wheat would be arranged by Frontier which is
the UK's leading grain marketer and supplier of agricultural inputs. The major
co-product of bioethanol production, distillers' grain, would be sold to AB
Agri. It will use its highly specialised sales and marketing business, which
sources and develops co-products from the food, drink and energy industries, to
market the distillers' grain as an alternative feed for livestock.

This announcement follows the previously announced investment by British Sugar
to build the UK's first bioethanol plant at Wissington, Norfolk. Its capacity
will be 70m litres (55,000 tonnes) of bioethanol a year, using sugar beet as a
feedstock, and the plant will start production next month.

The European Investment Bank is finalising its approval for the provision of
£120m of project financing for both of ABF's biofuel investments at attractive
interest rates. This would be the first direct financing provided by the Bank
for a biofuel project.

George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said,

'This exciting project will make ABF the major producer of biofuel in the UK.
Its announcement reflects our confidence in our sugar and agricultural
businesses, in our partners BP and DuPont and in the government's commitment to
biofuel production.'

gateside
19/6/2007
12:44
crontab - absolutely correct and as BP's jv partner on the biobutanol side, ABF stands to be a big beneficiary of the major technological bio-fuel breakthrough that BP promised for 2009. That's why I'm here.
idioterna
19/6/2007
11:19
Perhaps ABF's latest move, into ethanol production, is more its style.

I thought it was biobutanol that they're into, with BP. Crucial differences exist between the two.

crontab
15/6/2007
10:57
guru11. Two days later she was in Croydon and it was the same story there. The store was heaving with long queues at the checkouts.
In the interims 24 weeks to 3 March Primark made 91m on revenues of 721m the group made 268m on 3220m.....so about a third of profits from clothing.

welshbob
05/6/2007
19:04
I see that JP Morgan have new coverage on ABF, and are rating them OVERWEIGHT with a target of 1160p
gateside
01/6/2007
15:43
I'v decided this a good home for some spare cash in my account based purely on my wife's experience at Oxford Street Primark two days ago. She said the queues to pay were like Gatwick Airport checkins in July. Hope she's right!
welshbob
29/5/2007
18:22
Associated British Foods "buy"

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 4:24:58 AM ET
Panmure Gordon & Co

LONDON, May 29 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Panmure Gordon reiterate their "buy" rating on Associated British Foods (AFO1.ETR). The target price is set to 1000p.

In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company has decided to acquire Pataks, a leading brand in the growing Indian food market. Pataks would be combined going forward with Blue Dragon in the UK, Associated British Foods' retail pan-Asian brand, the analysts say. The deal is likely to be marginally dilutive to the company's earnings in the year to September 2008, and earnings accretive thereafter, Panmure Gordon adds.

gateside
29/5/2007
06:29
Associated British Foods said it has agreed to buy the Patak's business and assets, except those in India, from the founding Pathak family.

Completion is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory clearances, which are likely to be satisfied by the end of August 2007, ABF said.

The gross assets of the business being acquired as at October 2nd 2005 were £40m, ABF added.

Patak's manufactures and markets Indian cooking sauces, curry pastes, chutneys and other meal accompaniments. Its unaudited revenue for the year to September 30th 2006 was £66m.

Kirit Pathak will assume the role of chairman of the combined business of Patak's and Blue Dragon (ABF's pan-oriental brand) and Meena Pathak will also become a director.

gateside
25/4/2007
06:35
Associated British Foods

Our view: Hold

Share price: 927.5p (-7p)

At first glance food and discount fashion would seem to be an odd mixture, but Associated British Foods is making these ingredients work, and another strong set of first-half numbers should help the shares to consolidate at their current level.

The stock has been one of the top performers in the blue-chip index, up 30 per cent in the last year, almost double the growth seen in the FTSE 100 over the same period.

The driving force behind the company's success is Primark, its discount fashion retail chain, where profits rose by 28 per cent to £91m on a 36 per cent rise in sales to £721m. Primark has been a phenomenon over the past three years, and the chain now boasts 166 stores. However, growth in Primark could plateau, with only four more former Littlewoods stores left to convert and unknown further expansion costs.

Sugar has also been strong, thanks mainly to a first contribution from Illovo Sugar, and good growth in Poland and China. The company looks well positioned to offset European Commission sugar quotas through growth in emerging markets.

The branded and private label grocery division, which produces such household staples as Ovaltine and Kingsmill, looks to be the weakest link, with profits down 24 per cent in the first half.

The shares currently trade on 17.5 times forecast 2006 full-year earnings, falling to 15.9 times forecast 2008 earnings. For now the shares look fairly valued, and with potential regulatory issues in European sugar and a recovery needed in the grocery arm, much of the good news looks to be in the price. Investors should beware of banking on growth rates at Primark being maintained, and there is little sign that AB Foods is considering cashing in on its adventure in the retail trade any time soon. Hold.

gateside
25/4/2007
06:33
AB Foods

The no-frills slogan of Primark - Look Good, Pay Less - evidently loses nothing in translation. Less than a year after opening a trial store in Madrid, the discount fashion chain plans to take its tally of sites in Spain, home of its arch-rival Zara, to six over the next 12 months. Primark, which accounts for more than a third of profits, was one of the bright spots in an otherwise flat first half at Associated British Foods. Like-for-like sales were unchanged, but that is creditable given the cannibalisation entailed in opening 23 stores - a 53 per cent increase in space - in six months. In stores unaffected by start-ups, like-for-likes were up 6 per cent.

ABF's sugar operations also provided encouragement. Profits rose an above-forecast 64 per cent, helped by its Chinese businees and a debut contribution from Illovo, of South Africa. Earnings from Europe also beat estimates, with lower energy costs and efficiency gains offsetting a £24 million hit from European Union sugar regime reform. However, with the EU due to unveil more changes next month, sugar profits are likely to remain under pressure. A 24 per cent fall in grocery profits, where the relaunch of Kinsgmill has yet to feed through, was well-flagged. The shares have rallied 7 per cent this month and, at 17.6 times 2007 earnings, are not cheap. But the growth potential of Primark is reason to hold.

gateside
19/4/2007
05:57
seems to be a lot about on ABF at the mo where is the momentum taking it? it seems a pretty good revival story, but have most of the gains been made already?
maiseymouse
13/4/2007
14:34
£12 soon
peckhamrye
10/4/2007
09:41
Lets hope it can hold £9 in the run up to the Interim Results on the 24th
gateside
06/4/2007
02:21
Battle of Primark: rumours of sale cause store chaos
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Published: 06 April 2007

The Independent

Public order broke down on London's main shopping street yesterday as hundreds of bargain hunters scrambled into a new Primark store mistakenly thinking there was a half-price sale.

Managers were forced to bring forward the official opening of the 70,000 sq ft shop on Oxford Street by 15 minutes because of the crush developing on the pavement outside.

Many shoppers appeared to believe false rumours on the internet that the budget clothes chain had slashed its already low prices for the official opening of the flagship store.

As its doors opened at 9.45am, shoppers tumbled over each other onto the carpet, risking a dangerous situation. Security guards appealed for the remaining crowd to stay back as people tried to get into the store.

Fights and scuffles reportedly broke out as shoppers jostled for space.

Primark's management later confirmed that one security guard and a shop manager had been injured in the melee. "When the store opened there was a bit of a rush against the doors and a security guard and a member of the management received minor injuries as a result," said a Primark spokeswoman. "Those two members of staff were taken to hospital as a precaution."

The commotion in the West End is further evidence of the rising popularity of Primark and other "fast fashion" retailers who knock out high-street copies of catwalk trends for a few pounds. Anti-poverty charities claim the clothes are made by workers in Bangladesh paid as little as £3 for an 80-hour week in grim sweatshops without union representation. However fashion writers applaud the style and value for money of Primark's range.

Nursing student Jennifer Barr, 32, said the Oxford Street store was "bigger, with more variety and more clothes" than other Primark branches. "I'm a fan because you don't have to pay lots to look good," she said. "You can dress in here for a reasonable price and look good."

Josepha Reynolds, 16, told the Evening Standard: "It is just so cheap here. I can't afford Topshop because it is £40 for a top. You can come in here and pick one up for £8. There was a rumour that everything would be half price but even though it isn't the prices are fantastic."

Owned by the conglomerate Associated British Food, Primark has 165 stores in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Made by the likes of Primark, Asda and Tesco, "value" clothes are worth £7.8bn a year, about a quarter of the fashion market.

As part of a "green" overhaul, Primark sells organic cotton T-shirts and an "eco-friendly" paper carrier bag.

Yesterday, a Primark director, Breege O'Donoghue, said: "We knew we were going to be busy, but this has exceeded all expectations

spob
06/4/2007
02:16
Pri marni £8 jeans and £2 bikinis cause stampede


Queues to get into Marble Arch store but questions remain over low prices

Hadley Freeman, deputy fashion editor
Friday April 6, 2007
The Guardian


By 10am, the doors had been knocked off their hinges by the eager shoppers, desperate to get hold of a pair of £8 jeans. By 11am, a floor manager had been knocked to the ground by the hordes, trampling all that was in their path in search of a £2 bikini. And by noon the queue to get in snaked all the way down Oxford Street to Marble Arch with a waiting time estimated at a couple of hours.

When Primark, one of the cheapest and - if brightly coloured clothes are a sign of cheer - most cheerful clothing retailers opened its first central London store yesterday the company hoped for "a healthy custom". Instead, what they got was a stampede rivalling the competition for tickets for Glastonbury.
Sheila Drouin, 61, had come up from Bath with a friend for the opening. "When I heard they were opening a flagship store my friend and I decided to make a day of it," she said, clutching a £20 duvet set.

Hannah Martin, 18, was there for "the nice and cheap clothes. At Topshop jeans are £40 but here they're at most £12. The rest of the high street has missed a trick."

Part of the hysteria reflected the canniness of the retailer, first by opening during the school holidays and, second, according to some shoppers, the rumour that everything in the shop was going to be given away for £1. This turned out to be untrue, but may have accounted at least in part for the stampede.

This opening is the latest triumph for the retailer which has become one of the biggest fashion successes of the past three years. In the past 18 months Primark, which opened its first store in Ireland in 1969 under the name Penneys, has increased its square footage of business by over 70%. It has shaken off its tatty image and been featured in Vogue and received the ultimate accolade of being given an affectionate nickname by the fashion press - Pri-Marni - thanks to its occasionally clever takes on designer pieces which it can knock out just weeks after the clothes feature on the couture catwalks.

Cheap

But its main appeal is that it's cheap, a factor emphasised overwhelmingly in the new store. There is a rail of women's smart leather jackets for £12 each. Upstairs there is a men's section (khaki trousers at £4) and bags remarkably similar to ones sold in Chloe for over £700 for less than a hundredth of that price.

Primark's success reflects how the high street has changed. "Going back just 15 years the industry was dominated by the mid-market such as BhS, Littlewoods, C&A and department stores," said Seamus Halford, deputy manager of Primark.

"The term 'value retailer' didn't even exist then. Now there's us, Matalan, New Look, Tesco and George at Asda. C&A is gone and we bought out Littlewoods last year." Over the last Christmas period high street stores in the middle market suffered. Instead, it was the premium end, such as Marks & Spencers, and the lower end, represented by New Look, Tesco, Asda and Primark, which showed the strongest results.

But low prices come at a cost. Last year the charity War on Want in a report claimed that Bangladeshi workers making clothes for factories that supply to Asda, Tesco and Primark are paid as little as 3p an hour. When questioned about this Primark's director, Breege O'Donoghue, said: "We have been a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative [ETI] since last May and we are working closely with them." Yet War on Want's report suggested that the ETI's stipulations have had little effect. The report said: "Investigation for this report shows that, in reality, working hours in factories supplying all three retailers far exceed [the stipulated] maximum."

"We have a three-year strategy in place to take us from where we are now to where we want to be," said Ms O'Donoghue.

And how does the former differ from the latter? "It's all part of being on a journey," she replied. When pressed repeatedly for specifics she conceded that the company "wants to work more closely with our suppliers and for them to understand what ETI is about".

Shoppers, however, were unconcerned about such matters. "I don't know, I think the clothes are produced in Spain. And that's all right, isn't it?" asked Hannah Martin, picking up another dress.

The five items predicted to be Primark's top buys:

Metallic coat £15

Oversized silver parka £15

Cropped mustard jacket £15

Cotton T-shirts £3

Cashmere cardigan £22

spob
28/3/2007
20:58
BUY SPS AND SKP AND DOUBLE YOUR MONEY IN 3 WEEKS
binladin
01/3/2007
12:37
Thanks for all of that.
the other kevin
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