The British retail group Marks & Spencer Group Plc achieved a solid increase in sales in the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. In view of the “once again good” Christmas business, the company is now “confident that it will make further progress in the remainder of the financial year” despite the uncertain environment, Marks & Spencer said on Thursday.
In the 13 weeks to December 28th, the group achieved sales of 4.06 billion British pounds (4.85 billion euros). This corresponded to currency-adjusted growth of 5.6 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In the core markets of Great Britain and Ireland, sales rose by 5.9 percent (like-for-like +6.4 percent) to 3.89 billion British pounds. The growth driver was the food business, with an increase of 8.7 percent (like-for-like +8.9 percent) to almost 2.6 billion British pounds.
In the Clothing, Home & Beauty segment, revenue increased by one percent
In the Clothing, Home & Beauty division, sales grew by 1.0 percent (like-for-like +1.9 percent) to 1.3 billion British pounds. The company attributed the increase to the unexpectedly high demand for denim and knitwear as well as strong growth in online business. However, the segment’s revenue in its own stores fell by 1.5 percent. This was “partly due to the weather,” the retailer explained.
In international business, quarterly sales fell by 2.8 percent after adjusting for currency effects to 178 million British pounds. The group justified the decline with the “continued difficult market conditions in India” and stated that it had already initiated appropriate reform measures.