M&S shares rise as sales edge forward in Q1

Marks & Spencer has reported a slight rise in sales in the first quarter of the year, lifted by its food business, although sales of clothing continued to fall.

Shares in M&S rose 4.2% to 399.8p this morning after the retailer reported like-for-like UK sales were 0.6% higher for the three months to the end of March compared with a year ago. UK food sales were 4% higher than a year ago, but general merchandising - which includes sales of clothing - was down by 3.8%, the seventh consecutive quarter clothing sales have fallen. The drop in general merchandise sales was not as bad as some had forecasted, with some analysts having predicted falls of up to 6%. M&S said it had delivered its strongest quarterly sales for two years. Overall sales...