Marks & Spencer Q1 group sales down by 0.7%

Marks & Spencer released its interim management statement for the first quarter for fiscal 2012-13. The group sales declined 0.7 per cent while total sales in UK dipped by 0.9 per cent. Its food business increased by 2.9 per cent but general merchandise declined by 5.1 per cent. Like for like sales in UK dropped by 2.8 per cent. However, for food it grew by 0.6 per cent and general merchandise declined by 6.8 per cent.

Marc Bolland, Chief Executive said, “Our Food business has again performed strongly. General Merchandise underperformed in a difficult trading season. We are confident we are taking the necessary steps to address this. We are pleased with the performance in Multi-channel and our key International businesses, which are continuing to make good progress.”

For the first quarter, the company’s reported a growth of 14.9 per cent in multi-channel sales. Also, its international sales increased by 0.9 per cent.