UK food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer said it now expected annual profits of at least £500m after strong Christmas sales driven by outperformance in its food range.
The company’s revised guidance is slightly up on a previous forecast of profit before tax and adjusted items of around £500m.
Food sales were up 12.4% against pre-pandemic levels two years ago in the 13 weeks to January 1. Clothing and home sales rose 3.2%.
“Encouragingly, the larger basket sizes we saw in the first half continued through the Christmas period as customers used M&S for more of their everyday shopping. As a result, M&S was the fastest growing major store-based Food retailer in the period,” said chief executive Steve Rowe.
“Food has maintained its momentum, outperforming the market over both 12 and 24 months. The market continues to be impacted by the headwinds and tailwinds that we reported in the first half, but I remain encouraged that our transformation plan is now driving improved performance.”
