Associated British Foods plc announced the appointment of Joana Edwards as Group Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect on 5 March 2026. Joana has served as Group Interim Finance Director since 31 March 2025, and prior to that she was Group Financial Controller, having joined the group in 2020. Joana has over 30 years of international finance experience across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa, with particular expertise in FMCG and consumer-facing industries, including retail.
She has a focus on disciplined capital allocation and shareholder value creation, combined with strong technical capability across integrated reporting, controls and financial planning. Before joining ABF, Joana was Group Financial Controller at L'Oréal, having previously held a number of senior Finance Director roles across that Group's regions and business units.
Associated British Foods plc is one of the largest European food processing groups. Net sales (not including sold divisions) break down by family of products as follows:
- grocery and bakery products (21.3%): tea (Twinings brand), oils (Mazola and Capullo), spices (Spice Islands and Durkee), jam, bread, biscuits, sauces, etc.;
- sugar (10.6%): Silver Spoon, Billington's brands, etc.;
- ingredients (10.6%): yeasts, flavorings, emulsifiers, sterols, esters, etc.;
- processed food products (8.4%): mainly cereal and animal feed.
The remaining sales (49.1%) are from clothing distribution (473 outlets located mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal under the Primark and Penneys names).
Net sales (not including sold divisions) are distributed geographically as follows: the United Kingdom (35.8%), Europe and Africa (39.6%), Americas (12.7%) and Asia/Pacific (11.9%).
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