Primark poised to push up ABF profits As cash-strapped Britons seek out bargains, cut-price clothing offered by Primark has been in demand, spurring sales at the chain which is owned by the same company that makes Ovaltine and Silver Spoon sugar. Updating the market on trading ahead of its first-half results, ABF pointed to "exceptionally strong" sales at Primark during the first half of the year, saying they were expected to be 23pc ahead of the same period last year. A "substantial" increase in selling space helped to push up like-for-like sales by 7pc, although this undershot a median estimate of nine analysts for a 9pc gain, according to Bloomberg. ABF said that like-for-like sales had benefitted from a comparison with weak sales during the unseasonably warm autumn of 2011 and good trading over Christmas. It added that the first half of the year had been an "extremely active period" for new stores, with 15 shops opening across the UK, Germany, Austria, Holland and Spain. Due to lower cotton prices and better trading, operating profit margin at ABF was "much higher" than in the same period last year, ABF said. Driven by an "outstanding performance" from Primark, the company added that adjusted operating profit for the group will be higher than last year. Primark will offset a weaker performance from the sugar division, where ABF said profits in the first half will be lower than last year, partly because of a decline in China.