Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Marks & Spencer Group PLC on Thursday said its performance over the third quarter, which includes the pivotal Christmas trading spell, improved on a like-for-like basis, but total sales slipped as declines in its struggling Clothing & Home unit continued.
In the 13 weeks to December 28, total UK sales were down 0.6% year-on-year to GBP2.77 billion, but on a like-for-like basis edged 0.2% higher.
Including its international unit, total sales were 0.7% lower at GBP3.02 billion. The international unit had a 2.3% sales fall to GBP251 million.
The boost to UK trading was solely due to its Food unit, where sales rose by 1.5% year-on-year to GBP1.70 billion and climbed 1.4% on a like-for-like basis. The company added that the unit's performance in the two-week Christmas period was a "standout".
The troubled clothing unit saw a 3.7% sales fall to GBP1.06 billion and on a like-for-like basis, sales declined by 1.7%. Online revenue in the unit improved by 1.5% in the period, though this growth was lower than expected.
M&S said: "Revenue was adversely impacted by competitor discounting in December and lower furniture dispatches at the start of the quarter. We generated an improved run rate in traffic and orders, started to implement improvements to search and personalisation in the period and launched an instalment payment option."
The company added that recovery in its core Womenswear line continued but its Menswear and Gifting units offset this.
Chief Executive Steve Rowe said: "The Food business continued to outperform the market and Clothing and Home had a strong start to the quarter, albeit this was followed by a challenging trading environment in the lead up to Christmas."
"As we drive a faster pace of change, disappointing one-off issues - notably waste and supply chain in the Food business, the shape of buy in Menswear and performance in our Gifting categories - held us back from delivering a stronger result. However, the changes we made earlier in the year in Clothing have arrested the worst of the issues of the first six months and we are progressively building a much stronger team for the future," he added.
The FTSE 250-listed firm left its full-year guidance unchanged but warned that gross margins will be at the lower range of guidance. M&S said its cost reduction programme should largely offset this.
In November, the company named Richard Price as the new managing director of its Clothing & Home unit, as it looks to boost the fortunes of the struggling division. He was poached from F&F Clothing, Tesco PLC's fashion arm. In October, M&S said the turnaround plan at the division was "behind schedule".
M&S has endured a testing 2019, having been relegated from the FTSE 100 index in September. M&S was a founding constituent of the list of London's top-tier stocks and had a 35-year stay there.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
