Primark’s sales have risen above pre-pandemic levels as lockdown restrictions lift and people rush to refill their wardrobes with clothes for social occasions.
A focus on lockdown leisurewear had started to moderate, the retailer said, while there was a resurgence in “demand for fashion across womenswear and menswear”.
Associated British Foods, the fast-fashion chain’s parent company, on Thursday said its subsidiary’s sales in the quarter ending June rose 207 per cent from the same period last year to £1.6bn, when the first lockdowns forced the group to close all of its stores.
Revenues were “ahead of expectation”, the company said, reaching 3 per cent above the comparable quarter two years ago, before the pandemic had struck.
Primark added that it had gained share in the UK clothing market. It was likely to have been helped by the disappearance of several brands from the high street during the pandemic, including Karen Millen and Arcadia’s Topshop.
The woes for high street retailers have persisted. US group Gap said on Wednesday that it will close all of its 81 stores in the UK and Ireland and trade online only in those countries.
Primark said the retail market remained volatile and that demand in stores had varied across the countries it operates in, including Italy and Poland, depending on the level of coronavirus restrictions.
However, it added that the “relevance and appeal of our value-for-money offering has been evidenced by the number of customers that have returned to shop in person in our stores”.
The company expects adjusted earnings per share to come in lower than last year due to a charge related to the repayment of government subsidies and a higher tax rate.