The British trading group Marks and Spencer Group Plc recovered from the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic in the 2021/22 financial year. Thanks to comprehensive reforms, it was also possible to exceed the level of the pre-crisis year 2019/20 in terms of sales and earnings, the company said on Wednesday.
In the past financial year, which ended on April 2nd, group sales amounted to 10.9 billion pounds sterling (12.8 billion euros). Compared to the previous year, which included one more sales week but was heavily influenced by the corona protection measures in force at the time, this meant an increase of 18.7 percent. Adjusted for the effect of the additional week, revenues grew by 21.5 percent. The sales level of 2019/20 was exceeded by 6.9 percent.
In Great Britain, the annual turnover of the food division was 6.64 billion British pounds, 10.8 percent above the comparable figure for the previous year and 10.1 percent above the pre-crisis level. The Clothing and Housewares division posted sales of £3.33 billion. That meant an improvement of 51.6 percent compared to 2020/21 and 3.8 percent compared to 2019/20. As part of its reform package, the group had, among other things, streamlined the range of the fashion segment, which had been weak for a long time, and expanded the online business in a targeted manner. In international business, the group achieved sales of 937.2 million British pounds. Revenues increased by 20.3 percent compared to the previous year, but just missed the level of 2019/20 (-0.8 percent).
The retailer was also able to increase its earnings significantly. This was due to strong sales growth, but also to the fact that higher restructuring costs and value adjustments had to be booked in the two previous years. The bottom line was a net profit of £309.0m (EUR 362.7m) after posting a loss of £201.2m the previous year. In the pre-crisis year 2019/20, the annual surplus was only 27.4 million pounds sterling due to higher special charges.
In the current year, the group intends to continue its reform course. The clothing and housewares division, as well as the online business, needed further investment, the retailer said. Despite recent progress, however, management warned of the negative impact of the difficult global environment. Among other things, it expects production and transport costs to remain high, ongoing delivery problems in China and a burden on demand due to rising inflation. In addition, the complete withdrawal from the Russian business will have a negative impact on sales and earnings development, the company explained.