Primark Christmas Sales Hit By Warm Weather

Clothing giant Primark has reported strong sales during the Christmas period, but admitted that unusually warm weather over the holiday period affected its performance.

Sales rose 3% compared to last year but it said the figure would have been higher if not for fluctuations in the exchange rate.

Primark, owned by Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF.L - news) , did not give many figures in the update, which covered the 16 weeks to 2 January, but said its like-for-like performance was "strong" in September and October before weakening over Christmas due to the weather.

The retailer is not the first to point to the warm and wet conditions as a reason for its sales results – both Next (Other OTC: NXGPF - news) and Marks and Spencer also highlighted the weather as a challenge during the winter months.

Primark said its operating profit margins were lower than last year due to the strength of the dollar, but the reduction was less than expected as a result of "an excellent performance from [Primark’s] buying teams and a lower level of markdowns arising from a well-managed stock position".

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) has been a busy year for the company, which has opened six new stores since the end of March last year - including a new flagship store in Madrid - and has plans to offer a further six in the United States in 2016.

The trading update also announced that a huge 700,000 square foot Primark store is expected to open in New Jersey in 2017.

Online retailer ASOS (LSE: ASC.L - news) also released trading results on Thursday, revealing a 22% increase in global sales in the four months to 31 December.

The site's active customers reached 10.7m, up 18% year on year, with over half of their sales going to customers outside of the UK.

Nick Beighton, ASOS's chief executive, said of the results: "We have traded well through peak and are continuing to invest in the future growth of the business.

"We are on track with our plans for the year as a whole."