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LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer
upgraded its profit outlook on Friday after shoppers
returned to its food halls and went online for clothing, adding
to signs that its latest turnaround plan is working.
The 137-year-old chain, one of the biggest names on the
British high street, said that while there was an element of
pent-up consumer demand, its offering was proving popular after
several previous transformation programmes failed.
"Assuming no further COVID-related restrictions on trading,
at this early stage we expect adjusted profit before tax for the
year to be above the upper end of previous guidance of 300-350
million pounds ($409-$477 million)," it said in an unscheduled
statement.
M&S has focused on transforming its culture, improving the
quality and value of its clothing and food products, while
reshaping its store estate and investing in technology and
e-commerce, including a venture with online supermarket Ocado
.
In the 19 weeks to Aug. 14, it's clothing and home division
revenue jumped 92.2% on last year and was down just 2.6 on the
pre-pandemic 2019.
Food revenue jumped 10.8% on last year and 9.6% on the year
before, with cost reduction programmes helping to offset
inflation and disruption in the supply chain.
($1 = 0.7342 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by James Davey)