Full year results:
• Group sales up 1.3% at £10.0bn
• Total UK sales +0.9%: Food +3.9%; General Merchandise -2.4%
• Like-for-like UK sales -1.0%: Food +1.7%; General Merchandise -4.1%
• International sales +4.5%
• Multi-channel sales +16.6%
• Underlying profit before tax £665.2m (last year pro-forma £687.2m; reported £705.9m)
• Statutory profit before tax £564.3m (last year £658.0m)
• Underlying basic earnings per share 32.7p (last year 34.9p)
• Basic earnings per share 29.2p (last year 32.5p)
• Full year dividend 17p per share (last year 17p)
• Net debt £2.6bn (last year pro-forma £2.5bn; reported £1.9bn)
Marc Bolland, Chief Executive, said:
"In a challenging market, M&S sales grew by 1.3%. Three of the four parts of the business made strong progress.
"We are working hard to get the General Merchandise performance back on track. We have already made progress in our operational execution, and our new Autumn/Winter ranges have received a positive reaction. We are very pleased with Food performance which benefitted from our continued focus on delivering innovation, and unrivalled quality and provenance. Our International operations performed well in key markets and our Multi-channel business delivered strong growth."