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Mark and Spencer Essay

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press release
Issued: 22nd May 2012
MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC FULL YEAR RESULTS 2011/12 - 52 WEEKS ENDED 31 MARCH 2012 Marks & Spencer performed well in a challenging economic environment and made good progress in delivering our strategy

Final results: • • • • • • • • • Group sales up 2.0% at £9.9bn Total UK sales +1.5%: Food +3.9%; General Merchandise -0.9% (Clothing +0.2%, Home -10.0%) Like-for-like UK sales +0.3%: Food +2.1%; General Merchandise -1.8% International sales +5.8% Multi-channel sales +18% Underlying profit before tax1 £705.9m (last year £714.3m) Underlying basic earnings per share1 34.9p (last year 34.8p) Full year dividend 17.0p per share (last year 17.0p) Net debt £1.86bn (last year £1.90bn)

Statutory results: • …show more content…

In a highly promotional market we invested in giving our customers great value at a time when they are managing their budgets carefully. We managed our costs, capital investment and stocks tightly. As a result we delivered earnings in line with last year, and made substantial efficiency savings in our capital investment plans. Our strategy to transform M&S into a leading international, multi-channel retailer remains unchanged and has been validated by strong sales growth in these areas over the last year. We are making good progress but successful execution of our strategy requires us to adapt to both market opportunities and current market conditions. In November 2010 we set out a target to grow our revenues by £1.5bn to £2.5bn over the next three years. As a result of the deterioration in the economic environment since we set out our plan, we now expect to achieve £1.1bn to £1.7bn increase in revenues. While conditions in the UK are predicted to be more difficult than originally forecast, we are on track to deliver both international and multi-channel targets.

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Sales Group sales were up 2.0% driven by strong performances in our Food and International businesses. General Merchandise sales were down 0.9% with like-for-like sales down 1.8%. Customers appreciated our interpretations of seasonal trends, underpinned by our continued focus on great value and quality. We delivered strong performances across Lingerie, Menswear and Kidswear but saw a more

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