Marks and Spencer boosted by Christmas sales
Marks and Spencer boosted by Christmas sales
Wednesday 6th January 2010
Marks and Spencer (M&S) has said it had a "good Christmas" in terms of sales, but warned of challenging conditions in 2010.The British retailer said its food sector experienced its best ever Christmas fortnight, with like-for-like sales up 0.4 per cent.
The M&S interim management statement for the third quarter, which excluded the first day of the Christmas sale on December 27th, found group sales were up 2.6 per cent, and like-for-like sales of general merchandise were up 1.2 per cent.
The retailer said stock levels were better controlled with less stock going into the sale than last year, which is expected to clear by the end of this week, while M&S Direct had another strong quarter with online sales up 32 per cent, perhaps prompted by the bad weather making shoppers reluctant to head to the high-street.
Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of M&S, said: "We had a good Christmas, continuing the improvements seen throughout 2009.
"In food, we had our biggest ever Christmas fortnight, with record one day sales of over £50m on December 23rd. In general merchandise, sales of knitwear, sleepwear and footwear were particularly strong. Over Christmas, customers bought more than 36 million mince pies, a million bottles of champagne and over eight million jumpers and cardigans.
"We expect the trading conditions over the coming year to remain challenging as a result of continuing economic uncertainty. We believe however, that customers will continue to seek out real value and quality for which we are justly famous."
In early trading on Britain's leading stock index, M&S led the fallers this morning, down 4.59 per cent.
Yesterday, UK department store John Lewis announced it saw its best-ever Christmas sales in 2009.
Related News
FTSE 100 down in early trading on Wednesday - 06/01/10
After closing up last night, Britain's leading share index started Wednesday down 0
After closing up last night, Britain's leading share index started Wednesday down 0
FTSE 100 closes up 0.4 per cent on Tuesday - 05/01/10
The FTSE 100 has continued its good start to the year today, closing at 0
The FTSE 100 has continued its good start to the year today, closing at 0
Iceland's president orders vote on Icesave - 05/01/10
Iceland's president has refused to sign a bill to repay billions lost to UK and Dutch savers from Icesave accounts
Iceland's president has refused to sign a bill to repay billions lost to UK and Dutch savers from Icesave accounts
John Lewis sees 'excellent sales' over Xmas - 05/01/10
UK department store John Lewis has announced today it saw its best-ever Christmas sales in 2009
UK department store John Lewis has announced today it saw its best-ever Christmas sales in 2009
FTSE 100 steadies after sharp rises - 05/01/10
The FTSE 100 started down on Tuesday, but edged up to 0
The FTSE 100 started down on Tuesday, but edged up to 0
News Article Search
Quick Apply
News Archive