M&S outperforms

M&S says its food sales grew in both total and like-for-like terms in the March quarter as it repositioned its offer.

Its food division grew at a rate ahead of the total market, despite a “difficult and deflationary quarter for the food market”.

CEO Mark Bolland said the company made “strong progress” during the quarter.

“We continued to deliver on general merchandise gross margin and are pleased that we have achieved this whilst also improving general merchandise sales. M&S.com has returned to growth, as planned, with further improvement in customer metrics.”

The company will release financials for the quarter – and the year – on May 20. But it says food sales rose 3.7 per cent overall and 0.7 per cent on a like for like basis. General merchandise sales rose 1.3 per cent, or 0.7 per cent like for like.

Clothing sales were up 1.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent like for like. International sales at actual currency were down 6.3 per cent and total group sales were up 1.6 per cent.

“Customers turned to us for special times of the year as well as everyday quality they can trust. We had a record Valentine’s Day and launched over 350 new products over the quarter. We continue to invest in price in order to stay competitive while protecting the gross margin,” said Bolland.

Outside the UK, results were mixed. “Macro-economic issues particularly in our Russia, Ukraine and Turkey franchise partnership, coupled with further weakening in the Euro, have significantly impacted International second half profit,” the company’s statement said. But key priority markets such as India “continue to perform well”.