AB Foods aims for Primark push after resilience

LONDON (Reuters) - Primark-owner Associated British Foods (ABF.L) said it aims to expand its discount fashion stores into Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal after outperforming the British retail market.

Primark, which accounts for a third of group profit and is the second-biggest clothing retailer after Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), said on Thursday it is looking to expand on its 179 Primark stores currently in Britain, Ireland and Spain.

"I would be disappointed not to open 10-15 Primark stores next year mainly in Britain and Spain, and then we will look to trial stores in the Netherlands, Germany and also look at Portugal," AB Foods Finance Director John Bason told Reuters after the group issued a third-quarter trading statement.

The London-based food and retailing group said its Primark stores showed a resilient performance in its third-quarter during the 16 weeks to June 21 after being held back by weak trading in April due to poor weather.

Bason added Primark's Q3 like-for-like sales were still positive, after reporting like-for-like sales up 4 percent in its first-half up to March 1.

The stores have escaped the worst of the UK retail downturn, which came to a head last week with M&S's big profits warning, its formula of very low prices and rapidly changing fashion lines.

"Our performance has been resilient and we are performing very much better than the rest of the retail market, while we continue to go for growth with our new store opening," Bason added.

(Reporting by David Jones; Editing by Mike Elliott)