The Primark revolution is gathering momentum after the budget fashion chain said yesterday that it was moving ever closer to stealing Marks & Spencer's crown as the biggest clothing retailer in Britain.

Operating profits at the business, founded as Penneys in 1969 by Arthur Ryan, rose 22 per cent to £111million in the year to March 1.

Sales increased by 25 per cent to £899million, with like-for-like sales up by 4 per cent - in stark contrast to like-for-like declines across most of the retail sector.

Associated British Foods (ABF), its parent company, admitted that the chain was picking up business as customers cut back on spending, but it said that most of the success was down to increasing scale and continuing focus on value-for-money fashion.

Last month industry figures showed that Primark's share of the clothing market had risen 2 per cent to 10.1 per cent in the past year, placing the chain just below M&S, which has an 11.4 per cent share, in volume terms.

George Weston, ABF's chief executive, said: “We're not targeting anyone. We're just trying to do our job as best we can. It's a great offering to the public and we'll pick up market share if we deserve it.

“If the weather is kinder to us than it was in the summer last year, we'd have every confidence in the second half, but the summer has yet to be fought out.”

Primark has 173 stores and plans another eight over the next six months, with four to come in Spain.

Primark opened its first store in Spain last year and is widely thought to be scouring other European markets for potential sites.

John Bason, ABF's finance director, said: “We are looking at a range of options.”

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