The price of shares in FTSE 100 firm Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) rose by 1.09% to 2,049p (as of 14:30 BST) after it reported that trading in the final quarter of the year ended 12th September has been ahead of expectations. The grocery business has benefited from sustained strong demand from retail customers in key UK, US, and Australian markets while Primark has also performed strongly in the period after stores reopened.
Despite this, earnings per share are still forecast to be significantly below the prior year due to the impact of store closures and lower customer demand on sales at Primark across the whole period.