M&S reports strong festive sales but says UK firms will take hit from tax rises
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Sales at food halls rise 8.9% over Christmas, with 23 December its biggest ever day of food trading. Marks & Spencer has hailed a “good Christmas” with strong sales of food but warned that British businesses face higher costs from the government’s tax increases.
The UK retailer said sales at established food halls rose 8.9%, making its the top-performing grocer over Christmas, according to the analysts Kantar. Equivalent clothing, home and beauty product sales grew by 1.9% in the 13 weeks to 28 December. M&S said sales records were broken, including its biggest ever day of food trading – on 23 December – while clothing, home, beauty online recorded their biggest week. M&S added 500 new product lines in its food departments, and meat, fresh fruit and veg and baked goods grew by double digits.
M&S partywear sales were up on last year, while denim and knitwear outperformed. Stuart Machin, the chief executive, said: “This was another good Christmas for M&S, building on a strong performance in the prior year.” However, he added: “We’re not complacent.”.
The company said: “The external environment remains challenging. As we enter the new year, the outlook for economic growth, inflation and interest rates is uncertain and the business faces higher costs from well-documented increases in taxation.”. The £40bn of tax rises announced in October’s budget hit businesses the most, with higher national insurance costs and a rise in the national minimum wage kicking in from April.
