British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) posted its sixth consecutive quarter of falling sales, blaming tough conditions on the high street, but its shares rose as the company firmed up its profit forecast.

Investors took a crumb of comfort from an improvement in clothing sales, but chief executive Stuart Rose said the figures were still poor despite smaller sales declines.

"I do believe these figures are better in terms of absolute performance, but I accept that they're not very good," he said.

Same-store sales, stripping out the effect of new selling space and closed stores, fell 4.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to April 2nd, including the impact of Easter and the mid-season sale.

Like-for-like clothing and home sales were down 6.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, an improvement from the 8.5 percent decline in the previous quarter. But Mr Rose said M&S had lost market share in clothing during the quarter.

M&S said it expected profit before tax and exceptionals for 2004/05 to be £610-£625 million (€893-€915 million), lifting the base of its forecast range from the £600-£625 million range it predicted in January.

"There are signs of improvement but trading is still woeful," said Simon Proctor, analyst at broker Charles Stanley.

The fall in fourth-quarter sales was in line with analysts' expectations of a drop in like-for-like sales of 4-5 per cent. - (Reuters)