Marks & Spencer saw blockbuster Christmas trade including best EVER day for food sales
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Marks & Spencer looks to be the big retail winner of Christmas 2024 after the group's sales soared ahead of market expectations. The retailer posted sales of almost £4.1billion for the 13 weeks to 28 December on Thursday, driven by blockbuster food demand, as M&S continued to build market share.
Food sales rocketed 8.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis, beating expectations of 7.8 per cent growth and making M&S the top performing store-based grocery retailer in terms of volume and value over the period. Clothing, home and beauty sales jumped 1 per cent, surpassing forecasts of 0.7 per cent growth and defying a 1.5 per cent decline in non-food sales suffered by the wider retail market over the fourth quarter.
While the retailer's food division saw its best ever day over the period, non-food sales enjoyed a record trading week online. Year-on-year growth of 6.4 per cent across the UK and Ireland offset a decline overseas, which M&S pinned on 'continued challenging market conditions in India and the phasing of franchise shipments'.
Resurgence: M&S is 'strongly back in fashion with investors and customers alike' according to Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter. It said 'reset actions are underway' and the group is 'confident in the growth opportunity' internationally over the medium term.
