George Weston, the chief executive of ABF, said the company brought forward the launch of home delivery by about two years, The Guardian reports.

Primark sped up the plan by buying a robot-assisted warehouse in Sheffield from Debenhams, the paper says. It will take over the site by the middle of next year.

The chain has 511 stores in 21 countries, The Guardian reports. It will launch home deliveries in the UK by December next year and plans to offer them in mainland Europe later, with no date set.

Primark once said it could not make money selling fashion for home delivery, the paper says. Weston said delivery and returns charges common across the industry now cover most of the costs.

“We now know there's a group of shoppers who don't reject Primark but just don't use us very often as they are too far away from a store or prefer to shop online,” he said, according to The Guardian.

ABF's pre-tax profit fell 14% to £1.46 billion for the year to 12 September, The Independent reports. Profits in Primark's retail business fell about 11%, the paper says. The Guardian puts Primark's profit drop at 10%, to £1 billion, after price cuts and more marketing.

Like-for-like sales fell 2.6%, The Independent says. The Guardian reports that sales at older stores in mainland Europe fell 4.7%.

“While we remain cautious about consumer sentiment and commodity costs, we will continue our sharp focus on driving financial performance,” Weston said, according to The Independent.

ABF plans to spin off Primark in December 2027, The Guardian and The Independent report.

What we know: Primark will launch UK home delivery by the end of next year after profits fell.
What we don't: When the service will reach mainland Europe.