One of the biggest names on the UK high street achieved a record share of the UK food market as it attracted a record number of shoppers over the Christmas period.
Marks and Spencer reported a 6.6% rise in food sales to £2.7 billion over the 13 weeks to December 27, helping it record a highest-ever market share of 4%.
Shares leapt by nearly 5% as the high-street bellwether kept its guidance for the full-year unchanged.
The performance of the M&S food division offset a fall in fashion, home, and beauty sales, which continued to be affected by the the fall-out from the much-publicised cyber attack on the retailer last year, as well as reduced footfall on the high street. Fashion, home, and beauty sales dipped by 2.5% to £1.27bn, with the company subsequently launching a bigger sale than usual to work through stock.
Overall group sales for the third quarter, including the company’s partnership with food delivery business Ocado Retail, increased by 24.2% to £4.99bn.
Read more:
- 'This a great industry': Time to change narrative around major Scottish sector
- Edinburgh law firm announces key hire at 'pivotal time'
- State-funded Scottish National Investment Bank reveals new chief executive
- Scottish shopping centres face 'an uncertain future'
The company reported in November that the ransomware attack, which had a prolonged impact on its stock data and management systems, would hit profits by around £136m in its current financial year, which runs until the end of March.
Lucy Rumbold, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said the Christmas update from M&S showed that the retailer “continues to outperform the market”.
She noted that M&S, like Tesco, was benefiting as consumers increasingly dine at home. However, Ms Rumbold said: “Fashion and beauty sales remain subdued, largely due to lingering effects from the recent cyber incident. The trend of weaker in-store retail is also having an impact, but this was well anticipated and has been observed across the sector, as opposed to being a company-specific issue.
Ms Rumbold added: “Despite a slightly soft Christmas update, management has reiterated guidance, which was a key focus of investors as we expect this to be taken positively by the market. Some weakness had been expected this year as the company continues to address the aftermath of its cyber incident. Looking ahead, confidence remains in M&S’s long term prospects.”
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said: "A record number of customers shopped M&S this Christmas. From the festive food shop, to picking up party outfits and gifts, millions more trusted M&S to deliver the family Christmas.”
He added: “Fashion, home and beauty is getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery. Sales overall were slightly down but online performance continued to improve as digital sales recovered. We planned a bigger sale this year, with strong sell-through already making way for our new season lines.”
Shares in M&S closed up 4.96%, or 16.3p, at 344.8p.
Share