M&S cuts dividend as profits fall
RETAIL giant Marks & Spencer today revealed an expected slide and profits and cut its dividend by 33%.
The iconic chain, which like many mid-market retailers has suffered during this recession as shoppers have traded down to lower-cost retailers like Matalan, said annual profits fell to £706m from £1.1bn last year. Total sales were flat at £9.1bn.
In January, M&S, which employs more than 500 people at a head office site in Chester and around 200 at a shared services centre in Salford Quays near Manchester, said it would cut 1,200 jobs and close 27 stores in a cost cutting drive.
The retailer, which is 125 years old this year, described its dividend cut from 22p per share to 15p
M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose said trading for the first seven weeks of the new financial year had been “broadly in line” with the final three months of last year.
The chain said in March that like-for-like sales in the UK, which strip out the impact of store openings and closures, were down 4.2% for the 13 weeks to 28 March.
“We remain cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the year,” Sir Stuart said.
Like-for-like UK sales fell 5.9% over the year, with general merchandise – which includes clothes – down 6.9% and food sales 5% lower.
After announcing plans to close 25 of its Simply Food stores in January, M&S said it had managed to halt the rate of decline of its market share in UK supermarket food and drink sales, which fell to 3.9% from 4.3% during the year.
