Introduction

ABF - in brief

Associated British Foods is a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £6.8 billion and over 85,000 employees in 43 countries.

Our overall aim is to achieve strong, sustainable leadership positions in markets that offer potential for profitable growth. We look to achieve this through a combination of growth of existing businesses, acquisition of complementary new businesses and achievement of high levels of operating efficiency.

The group is one of Europe's largest food companies with a wide range of successful brands and products in the food sector, and an increasingly strong presence in advanced research and technology. A significant supplier of branded and non-branded grocery products and a leading textile retailer, we have significant businesses across the world.

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ABF - corporate objectives

The group has twin financial goals of consistently achieving sustainable real profits growth and long-term cash generation. In pursuing these aims we focus our energies on market segments where we can establish strong, sustainable leadership positions.

Our long-term business objectives:

• to grow organically and by acquisition in complementary activities
• to achieve high levels of operating efficiency

• to operate through a focused divisional structure in which each business:

  • - has an influential market position
  • - has sufficient scale to attract highest quality management
  • - has differentiated features for leveraging added value
  • - has potential for sustained revenue & profit growth or cashflow

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ABF - business overview

Associated British Foods is a balanced diversified business operating in most of the world's main food markets.

The business features leading grocery brands and Primark, a strong retail fashion arm, where we have successfully built a name in the UK, Ireland and Spain for providing quality merchandise at affordable prices.

Over the past few years we have disposed of businesses that do not fit this strategic focus and continue to actively pursue acquisitions that will deliver the market presence we seek to meet our aims.

As a group we are also constantly searching for better, more efficient and more profitable ways to manufacture foods and ways to transfer our technology to other related sectors. Our watchwords are efficiency, quality, shareholder value and growth.

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ABF - global perspective

Associated British Foods is a global food and ingredients business, with sales and manufacturing operations across Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia & China.

Total number of employees is approximately 85,000.

Advanced research and technology is a key driver for our business, and we invest in it heavily. We run a number of group-wide research facilities like the Allied Technical Centre and the Central Laboratories in the UK. Our subsidiary companies also maintain their own research facilities to carry out dedicated research for the local market, the group and the wider industry. These include facilities at ACH Foods in the US, at Weston Technologies in Australia and AB Enzymes in Germany and Finland.

Based on EUR and CHF exchange rates as at 7 Jan 2007

For a number of years we have undertaken a far-reaching programme of efficiency improvements in our operating plants and this has been instrumental in achieving our business objectives. This initiative has also had a positive effect in improving the environmental performance of our facilities.

Wherever our operations are sited, we aim, as a minimum, to meet all relevant legislation, cut emissions, reduce energy and raw material consumption, cut waste and recycle where possible, reduce packaging, use transport efficiently and operate effective health and safety regimes.

More information on Health, Safety & the Environment

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ABF - in the marketplace

Our business is split into four segments: Grocery; Sugar & Agriculture; Ingredients; Retail.

The Grocery segment encompasses a number of major manufacturers of branded and private label products. These include hot beverages; sugars & sweeteners; vegetable oils; bread & baked goods; ethnic foods; herbs & spices; meat & dairy.

Sugar & Agriculture comprises our sugar processing business, based in Europe, Africa & China, which is now the second largest in the world, plus extensive agribusiness operations in the same territories.

Our Ingredients segment includes the second largest global player in bakers yeast that also focuses on the needs of the bakery market and the supply of speciality chemicals and enzymes. In addition, the sector features a range of companies that have strong market positions in cereal specialities, emulsifiers, enzymes, esters, extruded ingredients, lactose, speciality lipids, speciality powders, speciality flours, yeast extracts, protein concentrates & isolates (whey and milk protein).

The Retail segment comprises a major value fashion retail group trading in the high street as Primark in the UK, Penneys in Ireland and Primark Tiendas in Spain.

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