M&S in recovery as profits soar

M&S has done well on food and clothes

Marks & Spencer has completed its recovery from a failing brand to a powerhouse of fashion. Read original article

Stuart Rose on Marks & Spencer's recovery

Britain's iconic retailer has posted a 28.5% increase in annual pre-tax profit to £965.2m - not far off the record £1bn it saw in 1998 before its decline.

The company's staff will share a bonus of £90m, including £26m for customer assistants, the company said.

M&S also said it is to create 10,000 jobs in the UK over the next three years as store expansion continues.

Food and clothing

The strong performance was driven by increased demand of M&S food and clothing, which was supported by a popular advertising campaign featuring 1960s model Twiggy, singers Myleene Klaas and Brian Ferry and other well-known faces.

"We continue to improve our product ranges, offering customers better quality, value, innovation and newness," said chief executive Stuart Rose.

"Service standards have improved. We continue to invest in modernising our stores and 70% of our store portfolio will be modernised by the end of the year."

A series of high-profile advertising campaigns helped rejuvenate M&S

The former Arcadia boss is widely credited for turning around the company's fortunes when he took over in 2004, saving M&S from a takeover from millionaire entrepreneur and Arcadia owner Philip Green.

Strong sales

The company's recovery has been driven by strong sales growth.

M&S reported a 6.1% increase in underlying UK sales, with new stores stripped out.

As a result, the company increased its market share in both food and clothing.

It now has 11.1% of the UK clothing market, an increase of 0.7%, while its food market share rose 0.2% to 4.3%.

Mr Rose cautioned the retail environment would become "more challenging" with increased competition and added pressure on consumer spending as a result of interest rate rises, but he expected progress at the company to continue.