Primark lacks fizz as it approaches its go-it-alone moment

After a profits dip, the chain’s demerger from its sister food company still makes sense but is unlikely to reveal tons of value

The business logic for demerging Primark from Associated British Foods’ greater Ovaltine-to-Twinings empire – an event due to happen by the end of next year – is impeccable. Read this year’s results statement and you wonder why the controlling Weston family took 20 years to get behind the idea.

One paragraph can be about a yeast plant in India or the impact of high gas prices on sugar-refining margins; the next can jump to Primark’s new “digital flywheel” or the progress of the “By Coleen” collection. Even by conglomerate standards, food staples and discount fashion has always been an odd mix.