M&S reveals profits ahead of forecasts

M&S reveals profits of £298.3 million for the six months to September 26 ahead of City forecasts.

Group sales to end September grew 2.8 per cent to £4.3bn. Adjusted profit before tax was slightly ahead of last year at £298.3m. The city had expected profits of about £290m compared with £297.8m last year.

Total UK sales rose by 1.8 per cent , with International 12.2 per cent, UK sales fell by 0.9 per cent, General Merchandise was down by 1.4 per cent and food sales were down by 0.3 per cent .

M&S also revealed plans to sell around 400 branded products primarily focussed on low market share areas such as laundry, personal care, beer and pet food.

Sir Stuart Rose, Chairman, said: “We are pleased with our first half performance. Our strong customer offer, together with tight management of costs and margin, has allowed us to report a profit slightly ahead of last year, despite a challenging economic environment. We increased our share of the clothing market over the period, and our performance in Food has also improved.

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