Marks & Spencer’s clothes branch drops ninth quarter in a row

Helen
Mirren cannot save non-food

The food branch increased its turnover 5.3 % and even though part of the increase is
because of an expanded network, there was still a 2.5 % turnover increase in
stores that have been around more than 12 months.

The non-food branch, mainly consisting of clothes and domestic products,
did not fare as well: its turnover grew 0.4 %, but
like-for-like it ended 1.5 % lower than in the past fiscal year.
Using a celebrity like Helen Mirren and shifting to a higher quality range of
products did not help Marks & Spencer turn the tide.

The diverging evolution was also noticeable in the profitability figures:
food increased its gross margin by 50 points, while non-food dropped 100
points. Financially that led to a 280.6 million pounds (334 million euro)
global gross profit, slightly above last year’s levels.

Marc Bolland, the Dutch CEO, remained relatively positive about the
future. The company restructuring is to blame for the weaker numbers in the
clothes branch, with the first signs of improvement already showing, according
to Boland.

(Translated by Gary Peeters)