This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/21/marks-spencer-profits-fall
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Marks & Spencer profits fall again | Marks & Spencer profits fall again |
(35 minutes later) | |
Profits at Marks & Spencer have fallen for the second year in a row as its much maligned womenswear divison continued to disappoint. | Profits at Marks & Spencer have fallen for the second year in a row as its much maligned womenswear divison continued to disappoint. |
UK sales fell 1% overall, dragged down by a poor performance in general merchandise, which dropped 4.1% on a like-for-like basis. | UK sales fell 1% overall, dragged down by a poor performance in general merchandise, which dropped 4.1% on a like-for-like basis. |
The results could have been worse had it not been for a 4.5% rise in international sales and a 16.6% boost in multichannel business. Food was also up 1.7% in the UK. | The results could have been worse had it not been for a 4.5% rise in international sales and a 16.6% boost in multichannel business. Food was also up 1.7% in the UK. |
Total group sales were up 1% to £10bn; however, pretax profit for the year to end of March fell 5.8% to £665.2m. | |
The M&S chief executive, Marc Bolland, said: "In a challenging market, M&S sales grew by 1.3%. Three of the four parts of the business made strong progress. | |
"We are working hard to get the general merchandise performance back on track. We have already made progress in our operational execution, and our new autumn/winter ranges have received a positive reaction." | |
The autumn-winter fashion range was launched last week and is being seen as "make or break" for Bolland. | |
The group's poor performance has led to speculation that Bolland, who joined M&S three years ago, could be under threat and there have also been rumours of a possible takeover by private equity groups. | The group's poor performance has led to speculation that Bolland, who joined M&S three years ago, could be under threat and there have also been rumours of a possible takeover by private equity groups. |
Analysts were unimpressed with the figures. Bryan Roberts, Kantar director of Retail Insights, said he was concerned that "the feted autumn/winter clothing range will not be the silver bullet that some hope it might be". | |
These concerns were echoed by Freddie George at Cantor Research. He said it would take time before the new womenswear ranges resonate with customers – and possibly up to three seasons before it has any real impact on sales. It will also take time for M&S to attract the younger, freer spending consumers that it needs as its core customer base ages. |