M&S reports robust Christmas trading

The retailer called the performance strong, given the reduced food-to-go sales and lower footfall in town and city centres.

In addition, M&S said that its partnership with Ocado had produced “very strong” results and consumers had responded to its “innovative seasonal product” during the festive period.

Steve Rowe, chief executive, said: “Given the on-off restrictions and distortions in demand patterns our trading was robust over the Christmas period. More importantly beneath the Covid clouds we saw a very strong performance from the food business including Ocado Retail and a further acceleration of clothing and home online. I want to thank all my colleagues for a first-class execution of Christmas for our customers in near-impossible conditions.

“Near term trading remains very challenging but we are continuing to accelerate change under our Never the Same Again programme to ensure the business emerges from the pandemic in very different shape.”

In response to the results, Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said: “Performance across the food business was disappointing given that many shoppers were looking to trade up given the restrictions.

“Many households have seen a significant boost in discretionary spending power as cancelled holidays, less commuting and fewer evenings out have forced families to save, especially the most affluent. This is the traditional M&S heartland and it appears consumers have decided to treat themselves elsewhere.”