REG - Marks & Spencer Grp - Christmas 2021/2022 Trading Statement

Marks and SpencerAnnouncement

13/01/2022 07:05

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220113:nRSM2834Ya&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2834Y  Marks & Spencer Group PLC  13 January 2022

MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC

CHRISTMAS 2021/2022 TRADING STATEMENT

13 WEEKS TO 1 JANUARY 2022

 

M&S SUSTAINS STRONG PERFORMANCE THROUGH THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD

 Third quarter sales, constant currency  £m     Change vs 20/21 %  Change vs 19/20 %

 Food                                    1,915  10.0               12.4
 Clothing & Home                         1,084  37.7               3.2
 Total UK                                2,999  18.6               8.9

 International                           272    17.4               5.1

 Group                                   3,272  18.5               8.6
 Memo:
 Clothing & Home online                  361    2.3                50.8
 Food ex hospitality and franchise       1,706  6.7                16.4

The impact of Covid in 2020/21 renders comparisons to the prior year less
meaningful. To aid understanding, throughout this document the comparative
period in commentary relates to the 13 weeks to 28 December 2019.

Steve Rowe, Chief Executive said:

"Trading over the Christmas period has been strong, demonstrating the
continued improvements we've made to product and value. Clothing & Home
has delivered growth for the second successive quarter, supported by robust
online and full price sales growth. Food has maintained its momentum,
outperforming the market over both 12 and 24 months. The market continues to
be impacted by the headwinds and tailwinds that we reported in the first half,
but I remain encouraged that our transformation plan is now driving improved
performance."

·      Food sales increased 12.4%, with sales excluding hospitality and
franchise up 16.4%. Retail parks and Simply Food stores continued to
outperform. Encouragingly, the larger basket sizes we saw in the first half
continued through the Christmas period as customers used M&S for more of
their everyday shopping. As a result, M&S was the fastest growing major
store-based Food retailer in the period. The business generated its highest
ever Christmas sales with December growth in line with the performance for the
quarter. In addition, although not included in these numbers, M&S products
performed strongly on Ocado.com, representing c.30% of baskets in December.

 

·      Clothing & Home sales increased 3.2%. Full price sales grew
by 45% as we maintained our trusted value trading stance, reducing the amount
of product sold on promotion by 66% and stock into sale by 21% compared to
2019/20. Online sales continued to be strong, with growth of 50.8% supported
by substantial expansion of in-store fulfilment. Store sales were down 10.8%
on 2019/20 with retail parks up, continuing to outperform stores in city
centres.

 

·      International sales increased 5.1%, with online sales more than
doubling. Performance was driven by Clothing & Home growth in the Republic
of Ireland and key markets such as India after Covid related restrictions were
eased. In addition, we generated strong growth through online marketplaces and
in franchise shipments to the Middle East.

 

·      During the period, the Group further strengthened its balance
sheet and liquidity position. We repaid the December 2021 bond maturity
through cash and signed a new £850m Revolving Credit Facility maturing in
June 2025. In addition, we disposed of two warehouses for a total cash
consideration of £42.5m.

 

·      In November, we indicated that we expected the strong trading we
had seen in the early part of the quarter to be sustained.  As a result of
our performance in the balance of the period, we are more confident of our
ability to deliver the increased guidance we set, and now expect full year
profit before tax and adjusting items of at least £500m. This assumes no
further material restrictions or lockdowns.

We will report full year results for the 52 weeks ended 2 April 2022 on 25 May
2022. Given the impact of Covid in 2020/21 renders comparisons less
meaningful, results will be presented against the 52-week period in 2019/20,
as well as the comparable 52-week period in 2020/21.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Investor Relations:
 

Fraser Ramzan:                  +44 (0)20 3884 7080

Jack Cook:                         +44 (0)20 3882
5535

 

Media enquiries:

Corporate Press Office:      +44 (0)20 8718 1919

 

- Ends -

Statements made in this announcement that look forward in time or that express
management's beliefs, expectations or estimates regarding future occurrences
and prospects are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
United States federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements
reflect Marks & Spencer's current expectations concerning future events
and actual results may differ materially from current expectations or
historical results. Any forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, failure by Marks &
Spencer to predict accurately customer preferences; decline in the demand for
products offered by Marks & Spencer; competitive influences; changes in
levels of store traffic or consumer spending habits; effectiveness of Marks
& Spencer's brand awareness and marketing programmes; general economic
conditions including, but not limited to, those related to the Covid-19
pandemic or a downturn in the retail or financial services industries; acts of
war or terrorism worldwide; work stoppages, slowdowns or strikes; and changes
in financial and equity markets. For further information regarding risks to
Marks & Spencer's business, please consult the risk management section of
the 2021 Annual Report (pages 47-57).

The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the
date of this announcement, and Marks & Spencer does not undertake to
update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTDDGDBCDBDGDD