Marks & Spencer has reported an increase in same-store sales in the first quarter, up 8.2 per cent.
Like-for-like sales of general merchandise rose 10.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to July 1, with food sales up 5.8 per cent, said the retailer in an update on Tuesday before its annual shareholder meeting when Paul Myners will step down as chairman.
Sales growth of non-food products had been forecast by a Reuters poll of nine analysts at 10 per cent, with the growth of food sales predicted at 6.3 per cent. M&S’ view of consensus forecasts from 12 analysts was 9 per cent for and 5.5 per cent respectively.
M&S said its latest quarterly performance was encouraging, although it also noted that the figures were compared with soft figures last year.
The company’s underlying general merchandise sales fell 11.5 per cent a year ago, while food sales rose 0.7 per cent to give an overall like-for-like decline of 5.4 per cent.
The inclusion of Easter in the first quarter this year added around 0.8 per cent to general merchandise and food sales.
Stuart Rose, chief executive at M&S, said: “Despite the challenging trading environment, we are confident that we can continue to drive the business profitably.”
M&S is two years into a three-year recovery plan, and Rose said that the company will be creating 4,000 new jobs in its stores as new selling space becomes available. The retailer has started a £570 million store refurbishment project, out-lined alongside its full-year results in May.
Rose said that he wanted 30 per cent of the space to be refitted by Christmas.
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