Marks & Spencer's full-year underlying profit before tax slips to £665.2M from £705.9M a year ago as sales climb 1.3% to £10.0B; UK food sales up 3.9%, 1.7% on like-for-like basis, general merchandise down 2.4%, 4.1% on like-for-like basis

Cindy Allen

LONDON , May 21, 2013 (press release) – MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC

FULL YEAR RESULTS 2012/13

52 WEEKS ENDED 30 MARCH 2013

‘Strong progress in our transformation’

Full year results:

Group sales up 1.3%1 at £10.0bn
Total UK sales +0.9%: Food +3.9%; General Merchandise -2.4%
Like-for-like UK sales -1.0%: Food +1.7%; General Merchandise -4.1%
International sales +4.5%1
Multi-channel sales +16.6%

Underlying profit before tax2 £665.2m (last year pro-forma3 £687.2m; reported £705.9m2
Statutory profit before tax £564.3m (last year £658.0m)
Underlying basic earnings per share2 32.7p (last year 34.9p)
Basic earnings per share 29.2p (last year 32.5p)
Full year dividend 17p per share (last year 17p)
Net debt £2.6bn (last year pro-forma3 £2.5bn; reported £1.9bn)

Marc Bolland, Chief Executive, said:

“In a challenging market, M&S sales grew by 1.3%. Three of the four parts of the business made strong progress.

“We are working hard to get the General Merchandise performance back on track. We have already made progress in our operational execution, and our new Autumn/Winter ranges have received a positive reaction. We are very pleased with Food performance which benefitted from our continued focus on delivering innovation, and unrivalled quality and provenance. Our International operations performed well in key markets and our Multi-channel business delivered strong growth.”

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.