High street giant Marks & Spencer has said it will close around 60 clothing and home stores as it focuses on food, and warned of more than 2,100 job losses under plans to axe 53 overseas shops.
The retailer said the UK closures come as part of an overhaul which will affect around 100 stores as it looks to cut back on clothing and home while boosting its Simply Food chain.
Details of the restructure came as it said underlying pre-tax profits fell 18.6% to £231.3 million in the six months to October 1, while bottom-line profits crashed 88.4% to £25.1 million.
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Chief executive Steve Rowe also outlined plans to shut 53 stores across 10 international markets - including 10 in China and seven in France, while pulling out of Belgium, Estonia, Hungary and Lithuania - putting around 2,100 jobs at risk.
M&S said it will close around 30 of its 304 full-line stores - selling clothing and home as well as food - and downsize or replace around 45 shops to Simply Food outlets.
It will also relocate some other outlets, while opening other stores in so-called under-served areas.
The group remained tight-lipped on the number of UK staff impacted by the plans, but said that, where possible, it would keep "job continuity" for affected employees.
The group insisted it would have more stores overall after the revamp, with already-announced aims to open more than 200 Simply Food outlets by the end of the 2018/19 financial year.
Mr Rowe, who took over from Dutchman Marc Bolland in April, said: "Over the next five years we will transform our UK estate with around 60 fewer clothing and home stores, whilst continuing to increase the number of our Simply Food stores.
"In the future, we will have more inspiring stores in places where customers want to shop."
He added: "These are tough decisions, but vital to building a future M&S that is simpler, more relevant, multi-channel and focused on delivering sustainable returns."
The latest restructure moves come as M&S revealed more sales falls in its embattled clothing division, with like-for-like sales down by 5.9% in the first half.
But it narrowed the sales decline from 8.9% in the first quarter - its worst performance for a decade - to 2.9% in the second quarter.
Same-store food sales fell 0.9% over the half-year, while it saw growth of 0.3% at M&S.com, leaving overall UK like-for-like sales 3% lower.
Mr Rowe said the group did not have a full list of outlets closing, adding that it would look at the overhaul on a "store-by-store" basis over the next five years.
He said M&S will have less space, but more stores as part of a "rebalancing".
"This is not about the M&S brand disappearing. We will be in more locations in the future," he added.
The group said the UK restructuring will cost it around £350 million over five years.
M&S will also close loss-making owned businesses across 10 international markets at a cost of £150 million to £200 million over the next year.
The firm currently has 468 overseas stores across 58 international markets, with 194 owned stores and 274 franchise stores.
Mr Rowe - a company veteran with 26 years' service - is leading a shake-up to turn around its clothing arm and get group profits back on track.
He has already axed 525 jobs at the retailer's head office in a bid to cut costs in August.
READ MORE: UK facing £25bn "Brexit black hole" with austerity beyond 2020, think tank warns
The group said on announcing half-year results that its profit margins will take a hit from the sharp falls in the pound since the Brexit vote.
But it said it would continue to cut prices across its clothing lines and in its food arm as it looks to ramp up sales.
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