M&S has appetite for new food stores
Marks & Spencer expects to open nine new food stores this year, as the retailer records a strong year of financial performance.
The retailer also said it plans to accelerate investment into its store renewal programme, as it expects to complete around 25 schemes.
This comes as M&S releases its final results for the 2023/24 Financial Year, a period during which the retailer opened six new food halls as part of its full-line store rotation programme, as well as eight standalone food stores.
Eight food stores were also renewed, bringing the total amount of renewed stores to 104. M&S said stores that were renewed in 2022/23 saw sales increase by a further 14% last year, with healthy customer metrics for both frequency and basket size.
During the last financial year, which covered the 52 weeks ending 30 March 2024, M&S recorded a pre-tax profit of £716.4m, up from £453.3m in 2022/23. Statutory pre-tax profit was £672.5m, up from £475.7m the previous year.
Stuart Machin, M&S chief executive, said the retailer was at “the beginnings of a new M&S”.
“Investment in store rotation and the end-to-end supply chain is beginning to pay off. New stores and renewals are performing ahead of forecast and attracting new customers”, he added.