Slight drop in home market
Marks & Spencer’s total turnover grew 1.9 % in its fourth quarter, with clothing going up 1.3 % (like-for-like turnover growth was a mere 0.6 %). Food grew 2.5 %, but on a like-for-like basis, it was merely 0.1 %, partly because Easter was not part of the fourth quarter this year.
M&S.com’s sales grew 12.5 % with online sales as the biggest growth sector. Marks & Spencer will try to keep the momentum going with a new marketing campaign in May, focused on promoting the website.
Its home market, the United Kingdom, managed a 1.5 % turnover growth, even though the like-for-like comparison shows a 0.2 % drop. International turnover grew 4.7 %, but for the full numbers, we will have to wait until 20 May, because that will be the day of the full 2013-2014 results.
