LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer on Tuesday posted an eighth consecutive quarterly fallin underlying sales of general merchandise, though the outcomedid represent a slowing in the rate of decline.
The performance will ratchet up the pressure on managementto deliver a swift turnaround when new season ranges starthitting the shops later this month.
The 129-year-old group, which serves 21 million customers aweek from 766 British stores, said sales of non-food products,spanning clothing, footwear and homewares, at stores open over ayear fell 1.6 percent in the 13 weeks to June 29, its fiscalfirst quarter.
That compared with analyst forecasts of a fall of 0.2percent to 3.0 percent, according to a company poll of 10, and adecline of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of the group's2012-13 financial year.
M&S's food business, which contributes over half of groupsales, is performing much better.
Its sales on the same basis rose 1.8 percent versus analystforecasts of a rise of 1.0 percent to 2.0 percent and anincrease of 4.0 percent in the previous quarter.