The Twinings, Hovis and Kingsmill owner reported a 10% fall in pre-tax profit to £1.3 billion following challenging trading across its sugar division.
The London-based firm operates across five key divisions: Retail, Grocery, Ingredients, Agriculture and Sugar.
ABF saw sales in sugar drop 9% on a constant-currency basis, which in turn contributed to overall revenues falling 1%.
The impact of this decline in revenue was partly offset by modest growth at Primark, helping the group post revenues of £19.6 billion for the year ending 12 September 2026, broadly in line with company forecasts.
Chief executive George Weston pointed out that the challenges faced by ABF in sugar and certain categories in the US had overshadowed stronger performance elsewhere across ABF Foods.
ABF said it expects further difficulties in 2027 due to the impact of El Niño, which is set to disrupt African production and lead to higher gas costs.
Weston commented: “Our results this year reflect a challenging operating environment and macroeconomic headwinds.
“Multi-year capital projects completed in Grocery and Ingredients this year provide new capacity and capabilities to drive growth.”
He continued: “The integration of Hovis is well underway and we expect to drive significant cost synergies to invest in marketing and innovation and create a sustainably profitable UK bakeries business.”
“We have focused on what we can control, taking targeted actions to drive performance while making good operational and strategic progress and continuing to invest in long-term growth.”
Adjusted operating losses of between £70 million and £170 million are forecast for the sugar division in 2027.
The manufacturer added that the planned separation of its key retail arm Primark from its foods business remained on track for December 2027.
