Marks & Spencer has said it will exit its Russian franchise business as the retail giant also warned that its sales growth will slow due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The high street giant's Russian arm, which is run by Turkish franchisees, operates 48 shops and 1,200 employees.

In March, the company stopped shipments to the stores following the invasion of Ukraine but has now said it will "fully exit our Russian franchise" and face a £31 million cost hit as a result.

It said profits for the new financial year will start at a lower level due to the impact of its withdrawal from Russia and the end of the business rates holiday.


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It added that it expects this will stay lower throughout the year "given the increasing cost pressures and consumer uncertainty".

In a statement, M&S said: "Overall trading in the first six weeks of the financial year has been ahead of the comparable periods in 2021-22, including the period from April 12 2021 when non-essential retail reopened, with a particularly strong performance in clothing & home and growth in the total food business continuing to outperform the overall market.

"While encouraging, we expect the impact of declining real incomes to sharpen in the second half and endure for at least the remainder of the financial year.

"There is no current sign of inflation abating, although we believe the rate of cost growth will subside by the third quarter."