Marks & Spencer, the country's biggest clothing retailer, posted a 34-per cent drop in first-half profit today, beating expectations despite a deepening consumer downturn and self-confessed mistakes at its food business.
The 124-year-old group maintained its interim dividend at 8.3 pence but took a cautious view on the outlook.
"Trading throughout October has been volatile with recent events in the financial markets and their impact on the wider economy further weakening consumer sentiment. We remain cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the year," said Executive Chairman Stuart Rose.
M&S reported a profit before tax and one-off items of £297.8 million for the six months to September 27th.
This beat forecasts which ranged from £280 million to £295 million and a consensus of £290 million provided by the company which was based on a poll of 13 analysts. It was down from £451.8 million last year.
It was the group's worst first-half performance since 2004 - the year Rose was parachuted into the retailer to fend off a bid approach from Bhs and Arcadia owner Philip Green.
Sales, detailed in a October 2nd trading update, increased 0.8 per cent to £4.2 billion.
Sales on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of new space, fell 5.7 per cent, with non-food (clothing and homewares) down 6.2 per cent and food down 5.3 per cent.
Last month, the retailer said it was cutting costs and investment to cope with tough trading, which raised hopes its full-year dividend payout, 22.5 pence last time, would not be cut.
Reuters