High street giant Marks & Spencer has revealed 85.1 per cent take-up for its £600 million investor cash-call to finance its joint venture deal with online grocer Ocado.

Shares in the group fell 2% as results of the rights issue were announced, before rallying marginally.

The underwriters will now look for buyers of the near-15% of shares not snapped up by existing M&S shareholders.

M&S launched its £601.3m rights issue last month - offering one share for every five currently held - to help fund the deal with Ocado to boost its food offering and online delivery service.

Investors and analysts have expressed concern about the deal, which will see M&S spend £750m to buy half of Ocado's UK retail business.

Some analysts have said M&S is paying a high price.

The move is the latest action taken by M&S to overhaul its business as it embarks on a major programme of store closures.

Model train maker Hornby is on track for a turnaround thanks to management weaning themselves off the "drug" of discounting, the company has said.

The business has hit the buffers in recent years, with heavy promotions hitting profits and problems with suppliers.

But on Thursday bosses revealed pre-tax losses have been almost halved from £10.1 million to £5.2m, although sales fell from £35.7m to £32.8m in the year to March 31, as the discounting ended.

Lyndon Davies, chief executive of Hornby, said: “Over the last 18 months we have created the foundations for the future across all parts of our business, we have really got to grips with the business now.

“We are firmly focused on the future and there is a passion reverberating around the corridors at our ancestral home in Margate which we returned to earlier this year.”

Iceland has reported a slump in full-year earnings after it was weighed down by a "disappointing" performance in the first half of the year.

The frozen food retailer saw earnings before tax slip 8.7% to £140.1 million in the year to March 29.

Earnings were hit by increased staffing costs after the rise in the national living wage, increased distribution costs and its sales performance during the first six months of the year, it said.

Iceland saw comparable sales jump 4.5% to £3.1 billion for the year, as it continued to drive sales growth through new store openings.

It opened 45 new stores during the year, including 31 larger stores under its fast-growing Food Warehouse brand.

The company says it has already opened 14 stores in the year to date, with 50 openings planned for the year.