Pre-tax profits for the year to April 1 leapt 47 per cent to £745.7 million from the £505.5m surplus reported at the same time last year.
Despite clamourings for him to pronounce the chain’s recovery complete, Rose chose to label the performance “respectable” and said there remains "much to do" to ensure long-term growth.
M&S has been cutting costs and making additional demands of its suppliers as it battles to make hay in a tough trading environment - and this set of results would suggest that the strategy is bearing fruit, said analysts.
In parallel with the turnaround at Sainsbury’s, M&S has also increased footfall through its stores by 350,000 a week to more than 15m a week, it claimed. While Re:fresh Awards compere Dominic Holland claimed M&S is “a short-cut to another shop”, M&S also claims that more of these shoppers are now spending money in store.
Rose said the group's strategy is working, but added: "We need to drive sales, grow market share, improve the performance from our existing stores and continue to buy better.”
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