Marks & Spencer profit down to £297 million for first half
07 Nov 2012
UK fashion retailer Marks and Spencer has posted a drop in underlying pre-tax profit to £297 million for the first half of the year as it said it would take action to drive sales.
The chain, which has been in transformation mode for 18 months, under a three-year plan, blamed pressure on consumers' disposable incomes and volatile trading conditions, due to bad weather for the disappointing figures, against a £307 million profit over the same period last year.
However, sales across the 128-year-old group rose 0.9 per cent at £4.7 billion driven by a strong performance in its food division and internationally.
Its UK stores, however, saw flat sales in the second quarter posting a 1.6 per cent rise in food partially offsetting a 1.8 per cent fall in general merchandise sales.
This comes after a 6.8 per cent slump in general merchandise sales in the first quarter due to the wet summer weather and problems with stock availability, which left stores short of bestselling womenswear lines.
According to the group's chief executive, Marc Bolland, who spoke to SkyNews, the company had repaired its womenswear position strongly over the second quarter.
Marks and Spencer, with 730 stores in the UK and 390 overseas, said it was geared the busiest time of the year.
