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Marks and Spencer has posted its highest revenue in additional than a decade and can pay its first dividend since 2019 after an enormous revival in its meals and clothes divisions.
The 140-year-old retailer posted a revenue earlier than tax and adjusted objects of £716mn for the yr to March 30, beating analysts’ expectations and the £453mn it made the earlier yr. It final recorded underlying income of £714.3mn in 2011.
The spectacular outcomes boosted shares 8 per cent to 295.2p in morning commerce in London on Wednesday.
M&S has been buoyed by its meals and clothes and residential divisions, with gross sales up 13 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively, as the corporate’s turnaround plans begin to repay. Group revenues rose by 9.4 per cent to £13bn, whereas pre-tax revenue was up 41.4 per cent to £672.5mn.
After twenty years of false dawns, chief government Stuart Machin mentioned: “Two years into our plan to reshape [the business] for development we are able to see the beginnings of a brand new M&S.
“This buying and selling momentum offers us wind in our sails, and confidence that our plan is working. We have gotten extra related, to extra folks, extra of the time.”
M&S mentioned it was within the strongest monetary well being since 1997 after it ended the yr with internet funds of about £46mn, excluding lease liabilities. It’ll additionally pay a full-year dividend of 3p a share — the primary in 5 years following 12 consecutive quarters of gross sales development.
The corporate has been closing much less worthwhile or productive shops that offered clothes, dwelling and meals merchandise lately and opened extra of its standard meals retailers.
It has additionally modernised its clothes ranges and has been looking for to persuade extra buyers to do a “full store” with M&S reasonably than solely go to for particular events or top-ups by bettering the standard and value of its merchandise.
M&S was among the many fastest-growing supermarkets within the newest 12-week interval, in response to trade knowledge from NIQ, overwhelmed solely by Lidl and Ocado. In April, it had a market share of three.6 per cent in contrast with rival Waitrose at 3.8 per cent.
Clive Black, a retail analyst at Shore Capital, mentioned he anticipated gross sales to proceed to develop however didn’t count on such robust efficiency once more this monetary yr.
“Given our file of delivering quantity development, market share and free money move we’re assured that we’ll make additional progress in 2024/25 and past,” M&S mentioned.
