Primark owner Associated British Foods hailed a "resilient" year as it was boosted by the continued expansion of the high street fashion store and robust grocery sales.

Increased profits at Primark and in the grocery division helped to offset declining profits from the group's sugar production business.

Statutory pre-tax profits slipped 8% to £1.17 billion for the year to September 14 as it was hit by losses caused by the sale or closure of businesses.

Adjusted pre-tax profits for the year, which strip out exceptional items, improved by 2% to £1.4 billion.

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BF also saw revenues increase by 2% to £15.8 billion for the year, largely driven by Primark which continued to shrug off the malaise affecting many of its high street retail rivals.

The company hailed a "year of strong progress" for Primark, which increased revenues by 4% to £7.79 billion after adding a further 14 stores to its portfolio in the UK and continental Europe.

Primark also improved its profits by 8% to £913 million as it was buoyed by weakness in the dollar, improved buying and better stock management.

However, the retailer's sales growth was driven by its expansion as like-for-like sales slipped 2%.

In the UK, Primark sales rose 2.5%, driven by its increased shop numbers, while it "outperformed" a weak overall clothing, footwear and accessories market, it said.

The chief executive of Topps Tiles has announced he will quit the business at the next set of results on November 29.

Matt Williams, who has been with the business for 20 years - including 12 at its head - is replaced by chief financial officer Rob Parker but will stay on as an adviser until May 2020.

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Mr Williams said: "It has been a really tough decision to leave Topps but I feel now is the right time for me to pursue a new challenge.

"Topps is, and will always remain, a very special company to both me and my family.

"It is a quality business with enormous strength in its specialism which it derives from its people and culture."

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Sales hit £31.6 billion, up from £30 billion, and pretax profits fell 7% from £1.82 billion to £1.69 billion in the year to September 30.

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Executives also revealed a future no-deal Brexit would cost the business £100 million in tax restructuring.

Outgoing chief executive Alison Cooper, who announced her resignation last month, said: "2019 has been a challenging year with results below our expectations due to tough trading in Next Generation Products (NGP).

"We are implementing actions to drive a stronger performance in the coming year.

"Although we grew NGP revenues by around 50%, this was below the level we expected to deliver. Our delivery was also impacted by an increasingly competitive environment and regulatory uncertainty in the USA.

"Growth in Europe was also slower, despite achieving leading retail shares in several markets."