M&S sales hit by Christmas weather
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Marks and Spencer profits took a nosedive with the bad weather over the festive period, seeing losses of about £50m-£55m of sales. the retailer indicated as it cautioned on the outlook this year.The lost sales are more than twice the impact
reported by rival Next but were short of the up to about £70m that Deutsche Bank had forecast, although some analysts suggested the final figure could end up being about £60m.M&S estimated that the weather wiped out about £30 from its general merchandise business which includes clothing and homewares.
Mr Bol
land said the inclusion of five days of M&S’s post Christmas sale, compared with no sale period last year, largely offset the impact of the lost general merchandise sales.M&S said group sales rose 4 per cent in the 13 weeks to January 1, with UK sales also up 4 per cent.
The closely watched measure of sales from UK stores open at least a year rose 2.8 per cent. UK like-for-like general merchandise sales rose 3.8 per cent. Excluding the benefit of the sale period, the increase was 0.8 per cent – weaker than expected. UK like-for-like food sales rose 1.8 per cent.
Image:M&S
