Marks and Spencer has reported its first increase in underlying pre-tax profit for four years, boosted by an 'outstanding' performance in the food part of the business.
The retailer's underlying pre-tax profit rose 6.1 per cent from £622.9 million to £661.2m in the year to March 28, andis the first increase in underlying profit during the reign of chief executive Marc Bolland.
During the year, 62 new Simply Food stores were opened.
Bolland said: “We made good progress in three of our four key priorities for the year. In food, we had an outstanding year in a difficult market. In general merchandise, we significantly increased the gross margin, and, while sales performance was below our expectations, we returned to growth in the fourth quarter. We continued to control costs and capital expenditure tightly, resulting in significantly improved free cash flow.
“We are transforming M&S into a stronger, more agile business — putting the right infrastructure, capabilities and talent in place to drive our strategic priorities.”
No comments yet