Associated British Foods plc today issues an interim management statement for the 16 weeks to 7 January 2012, in accordance with the requirements of the UK Listing Authority’s Disclosure and Transparency rules.

Highlights
•Group revenue up 12%

•Exceptional sales performance from Sugar and Primark

•Group trading performance for the period in line with expectations

Annual Information Update for the period from 16 November 2010 up to and including 14 November 2011.

Associated British Foods plc (“the Company”) is pleased to provide an annual information update, in accordance with the requirements of Prospectus Rule 5.2. The information referred to in this update was up to date at the time the information was published but some information may now be out of date. To avoid an unnecessarily lengthy document, information is referred to in this update rather than included in full.

 1. Announcements made via RNS, a regulatory information service

All of the documents listed below were published via RNS, a Regulatory Information Service:

Copies of the above announcements can be obtained from the Company’s website www.abf.co.uk.

2. Documents filed at Companies House

All of the documents listed below were filed with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales on or around the dates indicated.

Copies of documents filed with the Registrar of Companies can be obtained from Companies House (www.companieshouse.gov.uk).

3. Annual and Interim Reports

The Company’s Annual Report for the period ended 17 September 2011 and Notice of the 2011 Annual General Meeting (which were submitted to the UKLA National Storage Mechanism on 10 November 2011) can be found on the Company’s website www.abf.co.uk, as can the Interim Results 2011 published on 27 April 2011.

4. Contact

Paul Lister, Company Secretary  Tel. 0207 399 6500

Financial Highlights

Group revenue up 9% to £11.1bn

Adjusted operating profit up 1% to £920m*

Adjusted profit before tax up 1% to £835m**

Adjusted earnings per share up 2% to 74.0p**

Dividends per share up 4% to 24.75p

Net capital investment of £825m

Net debt of £1,285m

Operating profit up 3% to £842m, profit before tax down 1% to £757m and basic earnings per share down 1% to 68.7p.  Last year included a profit of £28m on disposal of businesses, principally the Polish sugar operation.

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

“These results reflect another year of progress for the group.  Operating profit improved as our businesses overcame the challenges of high commodity cost inflation and weaker consumer demand.  Further substantial investment saw the completion of a number of major capital projects and a sizeable increase in the Primark estate.  Opportunities for further investment are exciting, particularly in Primark, and the strength of the group balance sheet and a strong cash flow will enable us to pursue them with confidence.”

* before amortisation of non-operating intangibles and profits less losses on disposal of non-current assets
** before amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on disposal of non-current assets, and profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses

All adjustments to profit measures are shown on the face of the consolidated income statement.

These results are presented for the 52 week period ended 17 September 2011.  Prior year results were for the 53 week period ended 18 September 2010.  On a comparable basis adjusted operating profit was 3% ahead of last year.

For further information please contact:

Chris Barrie/Nicola Swift/ Kate Lehane, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: 020 7638 9571

Jonathan Clare
Tel: 07770 321881

Associated British Foods plc issues the following update prior to entering the close period for its full year results, 52 weeks to 17 September 2011, which are scheduled to be announced on 8 November 2011.

The group’s adjusted operating profit for the second half will be in line with expectations.  Net interest expense in the second half will, as previously advised, be higher than last year as a result of the higher level of average net borrowings.  Last year’s finance charge for the group’s defined benefit pension schemes will be replaced this year with finance income as a consequence of an increase in the market value of pension scheme assets at the end of last year.  The underlying tax rate for the year will be lower than last year, and some 2% lower than that used in the interim results, reflecting the further reduction in the UK corporation tax rate and the mix of profits in different tax jurisdictions.  As previously indicated, adjusted earnings for the full year are expected to be similar to last year’s very strong result which benefited from
53 weeks trading.

Investment and capital expenditure

The higher level of expenditure on new stores for Primark has continued as planned. Substantial capital investment was also made elsewhere in the group.  A number of major projects were completed or are near completion.  The major factory expansion and construction of the new power co-generation plant in Swaziland are complete, commissioning of the new meat factory in Australia is almost finished and the Vivergo bioethanol plant in Hull is scheduled to begin operation next spring.  Construction of new yeast plants in Mexico and Shandong province in China commenced in the second half, and expansion of dry yeast capacity at Xinjiang in China and at Casteggio in Italy continued.

Net Debt

This year’s higher level of capital expenditure and increased working capital, from substantially higher commodity costs, resulted in a higher level of net debt throughout the year.  At the year end net debt is expected to be some £1.2bn.

Sugar

Sugar revenues made further progress in the second half driven by strong improvements in both China and Spain more than offsetting the absence of export sales from the UK and lower sales in South Africa.  Profit for the full year will be well ahead of last year, and better than expected, with the benefit of these revenue increases and higher prices.

In the EU, the profits of our UK business will reflect the impact of the crop shortfall, as a result of the frost damage sustained during the severe weather last winter, after some recovery through price increases.  Production was just below 1.0 million tonnes of sugar with the shortfall against contracted quantities being made up by a combination of destocking, additional in-house refining in Spain and securing supplementary supplies from third parties at higher cost.  In Iberia, Azucarera delivered a much improved performance.  Beet campaigns in both the north and south of Spain progressed well and output totalled 410,000 tonnes of beet sugar against a quota of 378,000 tonnes.  In addition, the Guadalete refinery substantially increased its output, processing 248,000 tonnes of cane sugar against 145,000 tonnes in the previous year.

At Illovo, profit in the second half will be ahead of last year.  Local and regional prices have risen in response to world market pressures and export prices to the EU have improved.  Production in our financial year is expected to be 1.6 million tonnes, down from 1.8 million tonnes last year, driven by the drought affected South African crop.  In Zambia, the new season is progressing well with the expanded factory performing at capacity.

Building on last year’s improvement, revenues and profits of our Chinese businesses were substantially ahead reflecting both higher prices and volumes.  Beet sugar production doubled to 210,000 tonnes with the benefit of the ongoing and intensive work with growers to improve mechanisation, fertiliser and chemical usage, irrigation and harvesting practices.  In the south, sugar production was held back at 415,000 tonnes by unfavourable weather conditions which reduced the sucrose levels in the cane.

Following delays caused by contractor performance issues, construction activity has recommenced at Vivergo’s bioethanol plant in Hull.  The project is expected to complete in spring 2012.

Agriculture

Revenues were ahead in all sectors, driven by commodity price increases in UK feed and strong growth in feed enzymes, speciality feeds and nutrition.  Together with an excellent performance from Frontier, AB Agri will deliver a record operating profit for the full year.

UK feed revenues and profit both grew, benefiting from our long-term relationships with major customers, despite a difficult year for the UK livestock industry.  At Premier Nutrition, sales of pig starter feeds and premixes continued to grow strongly particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia.  AB Vista achieved strong revenue growth and significant market share gains in feed enzymes.

At Frontier, volatile wheat prices throughout the year created exceptional grain trading opportunities with record volumes purchased and traded.  High crop prices underpinned good farm profitability resulting in strong growth in fertilizer and seed sales and increased usage by farmers of crop protection products.

Grocery

Grocery revenues and profit for the full year are expected to be ahead of last year.  Twinings Ovaltine and our UK grocery businesses performed well and profit also benefited from a lower charge for restructuring.  However, the trading performance at George Weston Foods in Australia has been much weaker than previously expected.

Twinings Ovaltine maintained the momentum of the first half achieving strong sales growth in tea in both the US and the UK, and from Ovaltine in Thailand and developing markets.  Improvements were made in tea product quality and packaging, facilitated by recent investment in new production lines.  Significant investment to upgrade tea production in Andover, which supplies the UK market, is under way and the new tea plant in Poland is now fully operational supplying international markets.

In the UK, Allied Bakeries traded well with success for Kingsmill bakery snacks and rolls, and strong growth in the 50/50 range.  The brand was supported by a strong advertising and marketing programme.  Margins tightened with the higher level of promotional expenditure and only partial recovery of higher wheat costs being possible in an extremely competitive market.  Silver Spoon had a successful year despite significant cost inflation.  Granulated sugar for domestic use continued to decline but was offset by further growth in caster and icing sugars for home baking and strong growth from Allinson.  Westmill’s performance was weak, affected by declines in the Chinese and Indian restaurant trade in the UK and strong price-based competition in branded rice.  AB World Foods made good progress in a competitive trading environment and recovered higher commodity costs through price increases.  Blue Dragon was relaunched in the year with new products and packaging and Patak’s continued to grow, particularly in its international trade.  Jordans Ryvita had a very strong year with good sales growth across the range, both in the UK and internationally, and a substantial improvement in margin.  Growth was achieved by a combination of successful advertising and the launch of new products.

At ACH in the US and Mexico price increases were implemented in the first half to recover higher commodity costs, particularly in vegetable oil and spices.  Commodity costs continued to rise and, with consumers increasingly looking for value, further price increases became difficult to realise and margins were compressed in the second half.  Stratas made good progress in streamlining its operations and reducing overheads with a resultant improvement in profit.

In Australia, difficult trading conditions for George Weston Foods led to lower revenues and substantially lower operating profit than last year.  Baking margins were reduced by a much higher level of consumer promotion and a switch to lower margin, private-label bread and in-store bakery.  The meat business made some progress in its underlying trading but this was offset by higher costs relating to the commissioning of the new factory at Castlemaine, Victoria.  The old plant in Melbourne closed in August.

Ingredients

The yeast and bakery ingredients business of AB Mauri maintained the rate of revenue growth achieved in the first half but operating profit in the second half will be sharply lower.

The European yeast market has been extremely competitive and margins have suffered from an inability to recover fully raw material cost increases.  Some weakness in the bakery industry in North America led to lower sales of wet yeast and higher-margin technical bakery ingredients, and full recovery of higher input costs was consequently challenging.  In China, raw material costs rose as molasses, which were in short supply, were supplemented with higher cost corn syrup.

Our performance in Latin America was encouraging, benefitting from strong economic growth and continued development across a broadened range of products.  Significant raw material cost pressure was successfully offset by price increases.  Bakery ingredients had another year of strong revenue growth, particularly in the UK, with an expanded product range.  Considerable progress was made in building relationships with key global customers, and technical innovation continued to drive new product development enabling us to maintain technology leadership in key markets.

At ABF Ingredients, sales of feed, bakery and speciality enzymes made good progress driven by the successful introduction of new products.  Commissioning costs of the new yeast extracts factory in Harbin, China were higher than forecast but the factory is now fully operational and plant efficiency is improving.  Yeast extract margins continued to be held back by high molasses costs.

Retail

Sales at Primark will again be well ahead of last year and are expected to be up 13% compared to last year when adjusted for 52 weeks’ trading, driven by an increase in retail selling space and further like-for-like sales growth.  We delivered a 3% like-for-like increase in the first half and expect to achieve 3% for the full year with some growth in the UK and Ireland, despite weaker consumer demand in the second half, and continental Europe strongly ahead.  At the time of our interim results, we expected operating margins to be lower in the second half reflecting higher input prices and the full effect of the absorption of the UK VAT increase.  There has been a higher level of discounting than is normal towards the end of the summer season on the UK high street and operating margin is expected to be a little lower than forecast as a result.  The recent softening of cotton prices is expected to be reflected in lower input costs in calendar year 2012.

Store expansion in this financial year has been very strong with 19 stores and 0.7m sq ft of selling space added.  Seven new stores have been opened to date in the second half:  La Coruna in Spain; two in Portugal at Forum Sintra south of Lisbon and Portimao on the Algarve; and four in the UK in Scunthorpe, Ilford, Kings Lynn and Stockport.  Before the financial year end we will open a 46,000 sq ft store in the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, next to the 2012 Olympic park, and a 52,000 sq ft store in Dortmund in Germany.  This will bring the total number of stores to 223 by the year end and, having also completed a number of store extensions, we will be trading from 7.2 million sq ft of selling space.

Associated British Foods plc today issues its third quarter management statement, in accordance with the requirements of the UK Listing Authority’s Disclosure and Transparency rules.  The figures stated below relate to the 40 weeks ended 25 June 2011.

Highlights

• Group revenue from continuing operations year to date up 9%
• Primark growth – sales year to date up 13%, up 14% at constant exchange rates
• Group trading outlook for the full year in line with expectations

Trading performance

Group revenue from continuing operations for the 40 weeks to 25 June 2011 was 9% ahead of the same period last year and only slightly less than the growth reported at the half year.  There was no material impact on the translation of the group results from exchange rate movements in the period.

Year-on-year change in revenues:

Highlights

Group revenue up 9% to £5,207m

Adjusted operating profit up 5% at £390m*

Adjusted profit before tax up 7% to £353m **

Adjusted earnings per share up 8% at 32.9p **

Dividend per share up 4% to 7.9p

Net debt £1,361m after net capital investment of £399m

Operating profit up 6% to £356m, profit before tax level at £319m and basic earnings per share down 3% to 30.6p

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

“The breadth, diversity and resilience of our businesses have enabled the group to deliver good growth.  We have made further substantial capital investment for the longer-term development of the group.”

* before amortisation of non-operating intangibles and profits less losses on the disposal of non-current assets
**before amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on the disposal of non-current assets and profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses

All figures stated after amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on the disposal of non-current assets and profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses are shown on the face of the condensed consolidated income statement.

Bakon Yeast Inc. established in 1933, is a manufacturer of yeast based savoury ingredients for the food industry and is best known for its naturally, Hickory smoked Torula Yeast product range.  Bakon Yeast’s products are used in snack seasonings, sauces, meats and vegetarian foods.

The Bakon brand name will continue alongside the existing brand names of Ohly^®, Provesta^®, Brumami and ProDry.  The Bakon^®name will cover all products that utilise the natural smoking process of whole cell yeast and yeast components to produce added value smoke flavourings.

Robert Rouwenhorst, CEO Ohly said “The acquisition of Bakon Yeast Inc. fits our intention to develop wider applications for yeast and grow our current portfolio of savoury flavour ingredients”.

Bakon Yeast Inc. products complement the savoury ingredient portfolio of Ohly, adding further value-added yeast derivatives to the existing product range.

About Ohly

Ohly is one of the world’s leading suppliers of yeast extracts, yeast based flavours and specialty powders for the food, biotechnology, health and animal feed markets globally.

ABF Ingredients is a division of Associated British Foods that focuses on high value ingredients for both food and non-food areas and comprises a range of ingredient companies which include AB Enzymes, ABITEC, Ohly and PGP International.

The group has established strong market positions in cereal specialties, enzymes, esters, extruded ingredients, lactose, specialty lipids, specialty powders, specialty flours, yeast extracts and whey protein concentrates/isolates with locations worldwide.

The interim results for the group will be in line with expectations with all segments delivering good revenue growth.  Adjusted operating profit will be ahead of last year with all segments except Ingredients making progress.  Net financing costs in the first half will be at a similar level to last year and the group’s defined benefit pension schemes will generate a small financing credit this year compared with last year’s charge.  The tax rate for the full year is expected to be level with last year and this will be reflected in the underlying rate applied in the interim results.

Cash flow and funding

Operating cash flow for the half year is in line with expectations with a higher outflow than last year resulting from an increase in capital expenditure, particularly in store development for Primark, and a working capital outflow partly driven by higher commodity prices.  Net debt at the half year will, as anticipated, be close to £1.4bn.

Sugar

Profit from Sugar in the first half will be ahead of last year driven by substantial improvements in Spain and China more than offsetting a decline in Illovo.

In the UK, the sugar campaign started well.  However, the very sharp rise in temperature in January following the prolonged period of extremely cold weather before Christmas had an adverse effect on the quality of sugar beet still in the ground at that time.  Beet processing is now virtually complete and sugar production is estimated to be just below 1.0 million tonnes compared with last year’s 1.3 million tonnes.  The sales quota of 1.056 million tonnes will be met in full with this year’s production supplemented by third party sources of sugar and draw-downs from stock.  Profit in the UK in the first half will be in line with last year.  The increased costs of processing and third party purchases will be borne in the second half and will be offset, to some degree, by increased prices which will result in a net impact of some £20m in the full year.

In Spain, the campaign is progressing well.  Profit will be higher than last year reflecting both improved pricing and last year having been affected by high-cost inventory brought forward from the previous year.  The combined heat and power plant at Guadalete has been successfully commissioned.

As previously reported, Illovo’s operating profit will be lower than in the same period last year.  Serious drought in South Africa has reduced sugar production but, with an increase in Zambian production, the total volume for the season to March 2011 is expected to be similar to the prior year.

In China, the North is on course to achieve a larger beet crop than last year driven by increased acreage and improved yields.  However, in the South, cane yields have been affected by drought during the summer.  Record sugar prices are expected to drive a strong increase in profit offset, in part, by lower sugar content for both beet and cane and by higher prices paid to farmers.

Agriculture

The UK agriculture businesses all achieved good revenue and profit growth.  Sugar beet feed sales benefited from customers seeking alternatives to cereal based feeds which are at record high prices.  Growth in feed enzyme products, speciality feeds and nutrition all exceeded expectations.

Strong demand for crop inputs by farmers, the rapid rise in grain prices, and farmers responding to commodity price increases by selling their grain earlier than last year, all contributed to an excellent trading result for Frontier.

Grocery

Grocery profit in the first half will be ahead of last year benefiting from the much reduced level of provisioning for the cost of manufacturing reorganisation.  Twinings Ovaltine and the UK businesses performed well but George Weston Foods in Australia disappointed.

Twinings Ovaltine again delivered strong sales and profit growth with notable success in the UK and Australia.  In Allied Bakeries, Kingsmill achieved volume and market share increases although margins have come under pressure from the continued rise of wheat costs which have only been partially recovered through price increases.

The trading result at George Weston Foods will be significantly below last year.  Price deflation, driven mainly by promotional activity across the market, and increased competition affected both the bread and meat businesses.  Commissioning of the new Castlemaine meat factory is progressing satisfactorily.  The recent floods in Queensland severely damaged our flour mill at Moorooka.  Alternative sources of supply to the Queensland market have been secured and the clean-up process is well underway.  The interim results will include provision for the cost of restoring the site to full operation.

In the US and Mexico price increases have been implemented to recover higher commodity costs, particularly in corn oil and spices, but further increases are necessary as raw material costs have continued to rise.

Ingredients

Although revenue will be ahead, operating profit is expected to be below last year as a result of the commissioning costs of the new yeast extracts factory in Harbin, China, higher molasses prices in China and competitive pressure in the European and US yeast businesses.  Bakery ingredients performed well in South America and domestic yeast volumes in China were higher than last year.  At ABF Ingredients, sales of feed and bakery enzymes and yeast extracts continued to make strong progress with enzymes particularly benefiting from the success of new products.

Retail

Trading at Primark for the first three months of the financial year was strong despite the adverse effect of bad weather during the important pre-Christmas period.  Since the New Year, the performance in all our operations in Continental Europe has been very encouraging but there has been a noticeable slowing down of UK consumer demand.  Revenue will be 11% ahead of last year as a result of the increase in retail selling space and like-for-like growth of 3%.

Operating profit margin in the first half will be lower than last year reflecting the increase in VAT in the UK on 4 January 2011 and the impact on input costs arising from higher cotton prices which continue to rise.  As previously highlighted, margins will remain under pressure in the second half.

At the half year we will be operating from 214 stores with 6.9 million sq ft of selling space, up from 6.5 million sq ft at the financial year end.  Ten new stores have been opened in the year to date including six in the UK, five of which were former Bhs stores acquired last year, two in the Canary Islands, Gelsenkirchen in Germany and Hoofddorp in the Netherlands.  The development of the pipeline of new stores for Primark has been encouraging and capital expenditure both in the first half and the full year will be higher than last year. We expect to open a further six stores in the second half, three in the UK in Kings Lynn, Scunthorpe and Ilford, one in Spain and two in Portugal.  Together these will increase selling space to 7.1 million sq ft.

For further enquiries please contact:

Associated British Foods
John Bason, Finance Director                        Tel:  020 7399 6500

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Jonathan Clare, Chris Barrie, Nicola Swift   Tel:  020 7638 9571

Highlights

• Group revenue up 10%, up 7% at constant exchange rates
• Trading performance for the period in line with expectations
• Primark growth – sales up 12%, up 13% at constant exchange rates

Trading performance

Group revenue from continuing businesses for the first 16 weeks was 10% ahead of last year.

When compared with the same period last year sterling was markedly weaker against the South African rand and the Australian dollar which had a positive impact on translated results.  At constant exchange rates revenue from continuing businesses was 7% ahead.

The cost of a number of commodities increased significantly during the period.  Higher sugar prices benefited our sugar profitability and price increases will be implemented to recover higher wheat costs, but higher cotton prices are expected to have some impact on Primark’s margins.

Sugar

Revenues were 7% ahead of last year with higher sugar prices in all regions.

In the UK, sugar beet yields at the beginning of the campaign were in line with expectations.  However, the very recent sharp rise in temperature following the prolonged period of extremely cold weather before Christmas is having an adverse effect on the quality of sugar beet still to be processed.  75% of the crop has been processed but the effect on the remainder is still to be determined and a further update will be provided in the pre close period trading update on
28 February 2011.  The bad weather also delayed the final stages of construction of Vivergo’s bioethanol plant by two months and production is now expected to commence at the beginning of the new financial year.

The campaign in Spain is progressing well but a shortage of imported cane raws has constrained volumes processed at the Guadalete refinery.  The profit from Azucarera will be higher than last year with improved pricing and last year’s profit being unusually low due to the sale of high-cost inventory brought forward from the previous year.

At Illovo, operating profit was lower than in the same period last year.  Serious drought in South Africa has reduced sugar production below expectations but, with an increase in Zambian production, the total volume for their year to March 2011 is expected to be similar to the prior year.

In China, the North is expected to achieve a larger beet crop driven by increased acreage and improved yields.  However, in the South, cane yields have been affected by drought during the summer.  Record sugar prices are expected to drive a strong increase in profit offset, in part, by lower sugar content for both beet and cane and by higher prices paid to farmers.

Agriculture

Each of the UK agriculture businesses achieved good growth with particularly strong sales of sugar beet feed by K W Trident and Premier Nutrition’s starter feed and pre-mixes.  Trading at Frontier benefited from farmers selling their grain earlier than last year.

Grocery

Revenue was 9% ahead of last year.  Twinings Ovaltine performed strongly, notably in the UK and Australia, and good growth was achieved by all of the UK grocery businesses.  Further increases in Kingsmill volumes and market share drove a good result at Allied Bakeries.  The trading performance at George Weston Foods was below last year.  Price deflation, driven mainly by promotional activity across the market, and increased competition affected both the bread and meat businesses.  Commissioning of the Castlemaine meat factory has commenced and is progressing well.

Selling price increases are planned, or have already been implemented, to recover higher commodity costs, particularly in wheat, corn oil and spices.  Delays in securing these increases will adversely affect margins and the impact of continued rises in commodity costs will need to be carefully managed.

Ingredients

Revenues were 6% ahead of last year and at constant currency were 4% higher.  Yeast made good progress in China with higher domestic volumes, and bakery ingredients performed well in South America.  These more than offset the effect of strong competition in yeast in Europe and the US.  At ABF Ingredients, sales of feed enzymes and yeast extracts were strong.  However, higher molasses prices in China have reduced operating margins and commissioning costs of the new yeast extracts factory in Harbin, China will adversely affect profit in the first half.

Retail

Trading at Primark for the period as a whole was in line with expectations despite the adverse effect of bad weather during the important pre-Christmas period.  First quarter sales were 12% ahead of last year and 13% ahead at constant exchange rates.  This growth reflects good like-for-like sales and an increase in retail selling space over the same period last year.  At
8 January 2011, 214 stores were trading with 6.9 million sq ft of selling space, up from
6.5 million sq ft at the financial year end, with much of the increase occurring towards the end of the period.  Ten new stores have been opened including six in the UK, five of which were former Bhs stores acquired last year, two in the Canary Islands, Gelsenkirchen in Germany and Hoofddorp in the Netherlands.  We also relocated the store in Yeovil to a larger site.  The development of the pipeline of new stores for Primark has been encouraging and capital expenditure on new stores in the full year is expected to be higher than last year.

Operating margin was higher than the same period last year but, as previously highlighted, this is expected to come under pressure primarily in the second half when the increase in VAT in the UK, which was effective from 4 January 2011, combines with the effect of higher cotton prices.  Primark remains committed to offering the best value on the high street.

Financial position

Operating cash flow in the period was lower than last year with, as expected, a higher working capital outflow and increased capital expenditure, particularly on new stores for Primark.  Net debt at 8 January 2011 remained below £1bn.

Trading outlook

Group results for the period were in line with our expectations but the impact of the continuing rise in some commodity costs will need to be managed over the coming months.  We continue to invest in the development of our businesses and further returns will be delivered as these investments complete.  Last year saw a step change in the group’s profitability and although further growth is expected for the coming year, this will be moderated by the eventual impact of the adverse weather conditions on UK sugar production.?

• Group revenue up 10% to £10.2bn
• Adjusted operating profit up 26% to £909m*
• Adjusted profit before tax up 26% to £825m**
• Adjusted earnings per share up 25% to 72.2p**
• Dividends per share up 13% to 23.8p
• Net capital investment of £699m
• Net debt of £816m
• Operating profit up 31% to £819m, profit before tax up 54% to £763m and basic earnings per share up 52% to 69.3p

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

“This year’s outstanding results represent a step change for the group.  A number of major projects will be completed over the coming year which will underpin future profit delivery and provide a platform for further growth.  Opportunities for further attractive investment are plentiful and the group has the financial capacity to exploit them.”

* before amortisation of non-operating intangibles and profits less losses on disposal of non-current assets
** before amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on disposal of non-current assets, and profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses

All adjustments to profit measures are shown on the face of the consolidated income statement.

These results are presented for the 53 week period ended 18 September 2010.  Prior year results were for the 52 week period ended 12 September 2009.

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