M&S posts £201mn loss after lockdowns affect store sales
Marks & Spencer has announced plans to reduce its store estate after it plunged to a £201 million loss due to lockdowns and tiered restrictions.
The retailer currently has over 250 “full line” sites selling clothing and home as well as food ranges, and is set to cut this number down to around 180.
Some stores will be transformed into “food only” and others will be moved to new locations.
The retailer’s full-year loss for the year to March 27 compares to a profit of £67 million a year before.
M&S said at least 30 stores will close.
The retailer said it has already closed or relocated 59 “full line” stores, 16 food stores and eight outlets, but the effect of the pandemic means “we can move faster”.
M&S is planning 17 new or expanded “full line” stores over the next two years, including a number of former Debenhams sites, with the pipeline continuing to grow.
M&S said the overall clothing and home result for the year was “heavily impacted” by lockdowns, ongoing social distancing, steep decline in formal and occasional wear, the location of many of our stores in town and shopping centres and the priority to clear stock.
As a result, total revenue declined 31.5 per cent.
Clothing and home sales dropped 31 per cent despite online sales rising 54 per cent.
Clothing and Home recorded an operating loss before adjusting items of £129.4 million as lower sales were only partly offset by reduced operating costs.
Losses “substantially reduced” in the second half as M&S invested in its online channels to accelerate online growth to partly compensate for losses in store.
