Last checked at 
* Posts first-half loss of 17.4 mln stg
* Clothing and homeware sales down 61.5% in Q1, 21.3% in Q2
* First-half food sales up 2.7%
(Adds detail, shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Britain's Marks & Spencer
reported the first loss in its 94 years as a publicly listed
company after clothing sales were hammered by the COVID-19
pandemic.
One of the best known names in UK retail said on Wednesday
that it made a pretax loss before one-off items of 17.4 million
pounds ($22.6 million) in the 26 weeks to Sept. 26 - its first
loss since listing its shares on the stock market in 1926.
The outcome was ahead of analysts' average forecast of a 59
million pound loss and compared with a profit of 176 million
pounds in the same period last year.
Clothing and home sales fell 21.3% in the second quarter
after a first-quarter decline of 61.5%, damaged by a three-month
coronavirus lockdown in the spring and the impact of the virus
on customer demand.
All clothing retailers have been hit hard by the coronavirus
crisis. On Tuesday Primark reported a 63% fall in annual profit
and Next last week forecast a 50% decline.
M&S reported first-half food sales up 2.7% on a
like-for-like basis, with weak performances from stores in city
centres and transport hubs because of the government's
work-from-home directive, offset by a better showing from
suburban stores.
The business has also benefited from a tie-up with Ocado
, giving the M&S food operation an online presence for
the first time.
M&S, the shares of which have fallen 57% this year, said
that trading in the first four weeks of the second half
continued at similar rates to the end of the second quarter,
with clothing and homeware revenue down 21.5%, food revenue up
3% and international revenue up 7.4%.
The group cautioned that England's new four-week lockdown,
beginning on Thursday, will hit clothing and homeware store
sales and profit.
($1 = 0.7705 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey
Editing by David Goodman)
