Primark has temporarily closed a fifth of its European stores due to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting nearly a third of its sales. The closures in France, Spain, and Austria follow government mandates to shut non-essential retail, while UK stores remain open for now.
Shares in parent company Associated British Foods (AB Foods) were suspended for an hour on Monday morning after a dramatic drop to 0.01p, likely due to a trading error. When trading resumed, shares recovered to around 1,600p, down 12%.
The affected stores were expected to generate £190 million in sales over the next four weeks, representing about 20% of Primark's global selling space. AB Foods said it does not expect to significantly mitigate the lost contribution.
In the UK, which accounts for 41% of Primark's sales, the retailer has seen like-for-like declines accelerate over the past two weeks due to reduced footfall. However, supply chain disruptions from China are now expected to be minimal, as most factories have reopened.
The FTSE 100 fell 4.71% on Monday, losing £63 billion in value, as global central bank rate cuts failed to calm investor fears over the pandemic.
