10th Jul 2007 07:01
Marks & Spencer Group PLC10 July 2007 Issued: 10 July 2007 MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC FIRST QUARTER 2007/08 - INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 13 weeks to 30 June 2007 • Group sales up 7.0%• UK sales up 6.4%: General Merchandise up 4.3%; Food up 8.5%• UK like for like sales up 2.0%: General Merchandise up 2.9%; Food up 0.7%• International sales up 14.8% UK sales increased 6.4% in total and 2.0% on a like for like basis,consolidating the market share gains made over the last year. This performancewas achieved against strong prior year comparatives and at a time when c. 3m sq ft of trading space was disrupted by the store refurbishment programme. In Clothing, overall sales were up 3.5%. Sales in Home increased 13.4%. Foodsales grew by 8.5% with further growth in market share. Over the quarter weopened 33 more Simply Food stores including 21 on BP forecourts. International has performed well over the period with sales up 14.8%. We opened10 stores during the quarter, including our first stores in Lithuania, Taiwanand Ukraine. We continue to invest in our business and will deliver our guidance of 4.5% newspace this year. The store modernisation programme is on track for us to have70% of our store portfolio completed for the critical Christmas period. M&SDirect is making good progress and continues to drive traffic and conversion. Stuart Rose, Chief Executive said: "Rising interest rates, general uncertainty over consumer spending, and extremeweather conditions combined to make market conditions particularly volatile overthe quarter. We believe that the short term trading environment will remain very challenging,but our plans are unchanged. We are confident that our focus on product, serviceand environment and our investment in the brand will ensure we continue to makeprogress." Reporting Timetable 2007/08 The Company will next report on 6 November 2007 when we will announce our secondquarter trading together with the Interim Results. The third quarter interimmanagement statement will be released in January 2008. Fourth quarter tradingand Preliminary Results will be announced in May 2008. Statements made in this announcement that look forward in time or that expressmanagement's beliefs, expectations or estimates regarding future occurrences andprospects are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the UnitedStates federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect Marks &Spencer's current expectations concerning future events and actual results maydiffer materially from current expectations or historical results. Any suchforward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties,including failure by Marks & Spencer to predict accurately customer preferences;decline in the demand for products offered by Marks & Spencer; competitiveinfluences; changes in levels of store traffic or consumer spending habits;effectiveness of Marks & Spencer's brand awareness and marketing programmes;general economic conditions or a downturn in the retail or financial servicesindustries; acts of war or terrorism worldwide; work stoppages, slowdowns orstrikes; and changes in financial and equity markets. Contacts:Investor Relations:Amanda Mellor +44 (0)20 8718 3604Majda Rainer +44 (0)20 8718 1563 Corporate PR: +44 (0)20 8718 1919Corporate PR (out of hours): +44 (0)20 8718 2000 Investors & Analysts Conference Call:This will be hosted by Stuart Rose and Ian Dyson at 08.30 (BST) on Tuesday 10July 2007: Dial in number: +44 (0) 20 8515 2301 A recording of this call will be available until Tuesday 17 July 2007: Dial in number: +44 (0) 20 7190 5901Access Code: 136223# This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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