North America Edition
Marks and Spencer (M&S) profits have fallen 9.7% to £290m in the six months to September 30.
Bucking the downward trend were food sales which were up 3.4%, with like-for-like sales up 1.1%. This was attributed to a focus on giving customers more choice through constant innovation, unveiling 1,000 new lines and launching the “Simply M&S” range.
M&S chief executive Marc Bolland said: “We are pleased to report a better performance across the business in the second quarter. We took steps to address the short term merchandising issues in General Merchandise and as a result, we delivered an improved performance. Food outperformed the market on a like-for-like basis.
“Eighteen months in, we are making strong progress with our plan to transform M&S into an International Multi-channel retailer. Our new International stores are performing well, and our Multi-channel business is delivering strong growth.
“As we approach the all important Christmas period, we have better than ever Christmas products, to help our customers enjoy a special Christmas at home.”
On-shelf availability was improved by a further 1%, in addition to the 2% delivered in the last full year, through the implementation of a new space, range and display system and investment in improvements to service standards for customers.
Source: talkingretail.com
Announcements
Job Offers
- Ein- und Verkäufer Obst
- Horticultural Technician
- Agronomist
- Head Grower Strawberries, Norway
- Tissue Culture Laboratory Scientist
- Manager Operations & Logistics
- Vegetable Advisor (Permanent)
- Horticultural Commercial Director
- Senior Operations Manager Nursery
- EU Sales and Region manager
Specials more
Top 5 - yesterday
- How record rainfall is impacting California’s strawberries
- Europe undersupplied with stonefruit
- It’s time for dragon fruit to transition to mainstream
- New Zealand apples and pears available, Chilean stone fruits entered the peak of arrival
- "We're used to doing a lot for a little; now it's a little for a lot"
Top 5 - last week
- Eastern buyers prefer the taste of South African Grannies
- Israeli farmer grows world's heaviest lemon
- Berg River grape farm forgoes a packhouse for field packing
- "Rwanda is the next big player in exotic fruit and vegetables"
- Dragon fruit acreage in India expected to expand to 50,000 ha in five years under MIDH scheme
Top 5 - last month
- "Consumers will happily pay two euros for a Mars bar or can of Coke but not for their veg”
- Supermarkets limiting sales of veg per customer
- “Fruit industry in the Eastern Cape is facing a perfect storm”
- Eastern buyers prefer the taste of South African Grannies
- Durian smell forces Turkish Airlines flight to turn back
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-03-21 27,000 tons of Portuguese fruits and vegetables exported by Lidl in 2022
- 2023-03-21 Amazon job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history
- 2023-03-20 El Corte Inglés has introduced a new supermarket concept
- 2023-03-20 Spud: Fresh take on company brand
- 2023-03-17 Kroger sees e-commerce as future profit engine
- 2023-03-17 Jumbo profit suffers from ailing Belgian expansion
- 2023-03-16 Praakritik: Delivery of organic fruits and vegetables in Bangalore
- 2023-03-16 Gatik strikes Kroger deal
- 2023-03-15 Meijer: 1st retailer nationwide to support SNAP benefits on Flashfood
- 2023-03-15 Tesco to lift buying restrictions across certain fruits and vegetables
- 2023-03-14 Sainsbury's buying the freeholds of 21 stores which will continue to be operated as Sainsbury's supermarkets
- 2023-03-14 Gordon Food Service to open 6 stores in the greater Houston area
- 2023-03-13 Aldi to lift all customer purchase limits on fresh produce in Britain
- 2023-03-13 Marymount University: 1st U.S. higher education institution to have on-campus convenience store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology
- 2023-03-10 Food Rocket to shutter its U.S. operations
- 2023-03-10 Morrisons has racked up £1.5bln of losses
- 2023-03-09 Reapp: Surge in frozen vegetable sales as British fresh vegetable shortages continue
- 2023-03-09 GrubMarket has completed the acquisition of Custom Produce Sales
- 2023-03-08 JD.com: In general, women are stronger buyers of fresh produce
- 2023-03-08 WARP has launched “DirectFresh”
