M&S profit falls less than expected as Bolland stresses step by step approach May 20, 2014 Marks and Spencer has reported a fall in profits for the third year in a row: in the year ended in March, the store saw a 3.9 per cent decrease in underlying pre-tax profit, to £623m. That is, however, considerably better than the 7.5 per cent drop analysts have been predicting. Pressured chief executive Marc [...]
Suitmaker Bagir crashes after M&S slashes orders from firm May 15, 2014 ONE OF the country’s biggest listed menswear suppliers crashed nearly 70 per cent in trading yesterday after its largest customer, Marks & Spencer, signalled a reduction in orders for the firm. Bagir Group, which floated last month, was forced to issue a profit warning due to the reduction in M&S orders, sending shares down 68 [...]
Marks & Spencer recruits Silicon Roundabout entrepreneurs for new website May 1, 2014 MARKS & Spencer has been recruiting Silicon roundabout’s finest to help develop its new website and to help lure the 19m customers a year who shop in its stores but do not use its website. The 130 year-old high street retailer broke away from its technology supplier Amazon and launched its own custom-built £150m [...]
Discounts weigh on M&S despite rise in clothing April 10, 2014 MARKS & Spencer’s revamped womenswear collection, which has been fronted by stars including Dame Helen Mirren, showed signs of recovery in the fourth quarter despite overall general merchandise sales falling for an 11th consecutive quarter. The high street giant yesterday split clothing sales from other non-food sales for the first time, revealing a 0.6 per [...]
Bolland’s bought more time, but what does M&S need now? April 10, 2014 The trading update from high street staple Marks & Spencer has been described by stockbroker Shore Capital as “frankly, quite mellow”. The encouraging figure was for clothing sales, which rose 1.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of 2014. The group reported sales up 1.9 per cent, [...]
M&S sees clothes sales rise but Bolland still cautious April 10, 2014 A glimmer of hope for high street store Marks & Spencer. The retailer’s reported that clothing sales rose 1.3 per cent in the first part of 2014, up 0.6 per cent like-for-like. General merchandise saw group sales up a modest 0.2 per cent in the 13 weeks to the end of March, but still declining [...]
Clothing sales at M&S set to come up short April 7, 2014 MARKS & SPENCER chief executive Marc Bolland is expected to come under renewed pressure this week when the retailer posts yet another fall in underlying sales for its key clothing arm. The high street retailer is expected to report a decline of around one per cent in like-for-like general merchandise sales – which included clothing [...]
London Report: M&S in focus as clothing sales forecast to fall April 7, 2014 HIGH street bellwether Marks & Spencer will be in the spotlight this week as the giant retailer updates the City for the three months to the end of March. Analysts predict that the company’s clothing sales will fall for the 11th quarter in a row, inviting questions about what the firm can do to revamp [...]
Marks & Spencer plans to open 250 new shops overseas April 1, 2014 MARKS & Spencer (M&S) is gunning for a 40 per cent boost in profits from international stores and hundreds of new outlets abroad in just three years, as the firm lays out a major expansion plan. Announced in Paris yesterday, the fresh strategy will mean a huge jump in the number of M&S stores outside [...]
Move over M&S, our City leading ladies are here March 24, 2014 THE LATEST M&S gaggle of leading ladies was revealed yesterday. Wearing the embattled chain’s wares this time round are actress Emma Thompson, singers Rita Ora and Annie Lennox, model Alek Wek, campaigner Doreen Lawrence, east London fashion powerhouse Lulu Kennedy and engineer Roma Agrawal. It’s not just a line-up of inspiring women, it’s an M&S line-up [...]