Associated British Foods plc (ABF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Just before we get on to the results, a couple of minutes on the demerger of Primark. Since last November, as a board and as a group, we have reviewed sort of fall angles every which way on this potential transaction. And I think it's fair to say that as a board, we have a deeper conviction even than before that the restructuring and the split is the right way to go. Just to emphasize, this is not an exercise in financial engineering. We feel that each of these businesses, because of their very distinct dynamics, deserve and need separate oversight from separate dedicated boards and accountability to separate groups of shareholders, each of whom have chosen to invest in either food or retail because of a clear choice. We are absolutely focused now on delivering this transaction. The timing, we've talked about the end of 2027. That's to give us maximum flexibility. I suppose there's probably a sweet spot between June and October. The costs, I hope very much that we're conservative in the numbers that we've put in the release. Obviously, nothing's final till it's final, but we've tried to put a top estimate there for the costs Whittington are fully supportive and it's all systems go so we are excited to be proceeding with the transaction I suggest if there are any questions I take them at the end rather than now and we just move straight on with the results George Michael, thank you. It's actually quite a big day for those of us who've grown up with Primark. I think it is a moment to celebrate the success of that business over the 57, 58 years that it's been part of ABF, during which time it has benefited hugely from the governance that ABF has provided, often in fairly idiosyncratic but always very effective ways. Secondly, though, I thought I was just going to be tal...