9th Jan 2007 07:01
Marks & Spencer Group PLC09 January 2007 Issued: Tuesday, 9 January 2007 QUARTER 3 TRADING STATEMENT 2006/07 - 13 weeks to 30 December 2006 • UK sales up 9.2%: General Merchandise +9.0%; Food +9.5%; • UK like for like sales up 5.6%: General Merchandise +7.1%; Food +3.6%; Q1% Q2% Q3%Total salesClothing +10.7 +9.3 +9.2Home +23.3 +17.7 +7.9General Merchandise +11.7 +10.0 +9.0Food +9.2 +10.9 +9.5Total +10.4 +10.5 +9.2 Like-for-like sales Q1% Q2% Q3%General Merchandise +10.5 +7.9 +7.1Food +5.8 +4.7 +3.6Total +8.2 +6.4 +5.6 This was a strong performance, despite a slower run up pre-Christmas. In GeneralMerchandise, we held our full price stance and delivered good growth overall.Clearance stocks were at a similar level to the previous year. Food performedwell, building on a very strong Christmas the previous year. We continued togrow market share to 4.3%* in Food and to 10.5%** in Clothing. Online had a good quarter with sales up over 70%. The website was our busiest "store" in the quarter with over 9 million customers visiting the site over theperiod. International continued to perform well with sales up 18.2% over theperiod. Stuart Rose, Chief Executive said: "M&S had a good Christmas. In the fourth quarter, we come up againstsignificantly tougher comparatives, whilst facing a more challenging retailenvironment. This quarter will be impacted by the next phase of our storemodernisation programme, which starts earlier than last year. We plan to haveover 70% of our store space in the new format by Christmas 2007. "If our performance continues in the fourth quarter, we anticipate paying abonus to all staff. Additionally, we are delighted that a further 12,000employees will benefit from gains in share save schemes worth £56m maturing thismonth. "We have now delivered growth on growth in all areas of our business, thuscompleting the first part of our recovery plan. We remain on track to furtherdrive and broaden our business." Marks and Spencer Group plc will report its 2006/07 Preliminary results and Q4trading for the 13 weeks to 31 March 2007 on 22 May 2007. * Food market share: Superpanel, Food & Drink: 12 weeks ending 3 Dec 2006** Clothing market share: TNS Worldpanel Fashion: 12 weeks ending 12 Nov 2006 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 Press Office: +44 (0)20 8718 1919 Investors & Analysts Conference Call: This will be hosted by Stuart Rose at 08.30 (GMT) on Tuesday 9 January 2007: Dial in number: +44 (0) 20 8515 2386 A recording of this call will be available until Tuesday 16 January 2007: Dial in number: +44 (0) 20 7190 5901Access Code: 134803# This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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