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High street retailer sees strongest quarterly sales growth in the last two years
Leading UK retailer Marks and Spencer has announced its strongest sales growth in two years following a 3.1% rise during the first quarter of 2013.
Figures released by the company revealed that increased food sales were the central factor for the company’s positive results at a time when General Merchandise sales have fallen.
- Group sales +3.1% *
- Total UK sales +2.6%:Food +6.3%; GM –2.2%
- Like for like UK sales +0.6%:Food +4.0%; GM –3.8%
- Multi-channel sales +22.9%
- International sales +7.0% *
In a statement the company said that whilst their General Merchandise operations faced “difficult trading conditions” recently that they made “progress in our operational execution”.
Commenting on the first quarter result Chief Executive Marc Bolland argued that the company “delivered an excellent result in Food, with performance well ahead of the market, as customers continued to trust us for provenance and quality”.
“Multi-channel sales growth accelerated and our International business also performed well during the quarter.”
Once viewed primarily as a clothing retailer Marks and Spencer now argue that they have “become a destination of choice for customers looking for quality and innovation, particularly for special occasions in the year”.
International sales, including those from the Middle East, India and China continued to trade strongly. Despite the macro-economic issues in some of the legacy markets, the company’s performance in Europe improved in the quarter.
Ahead of the company’s full year results in May the company says that it expects “the pressure on consumers’ disposable incomes to continue throughout 2013” and are “cautious about the outlook for the year ahead and this view remains unchanged”.
