Marks & Spencer like-for-like clothing sales plunge in first quarter
Marks & Spencer has reported that its clothing and homeware sales fell by 8.9% on a like-for-like basis in its first quarter as trading was impacted by a weak market in the run-up to the EU referendum.
Like-for-like food sales declined by 0.9% although 0.5% was due to the timing of Easter this year.
Within its clothing and homewares category, Marks & Spencer continued to reduce the number of promotional events during the quarter, including just one ‘cyber day’ compared with six last year. It has also repriced around 1,000 lines since January as it looks to lower prices as part of efforts to turn the category around.
Steve Rowe, Marks & Spencer chief executive, said: “A key part of our recovery plan for clothing & home is lowering prices and reducing promotions. As a result, we ran fewer price promotions while continuing to lower prices to deliver real value to our customers, and moved the summer sale to July. We knew our actions would reduce total sales but we are seeing some encouraging early signs. Our food business continues to strongly outperform a deflationary market, with like-for-like sales slightly down when adjusted for Easter timing.”
Group sales were down 0.4% in the 13 week period to 2 July. International sales were up 0.7% at constant currency and rose by 6.1% on a reported basis.
Marks & Spencer said its full year guidance remains unchanged.
Rowe added: “As highlighted in May, consumer confidence weakened in the run-up to the EU referendum. While it is too early to quantify the implications of Brexit, we are confident that our strategic priorities and the actions we are taking remain the right ones to deliver results for our customers and our business.”
