Small sales drop for M&S

HIGH-STREET giant Marks and Spencer today reported a smaller than expected drop in its first-quarter underlying sales.

The retail chain said sales at its UK stores open for more than a year fell by 1.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 June, after a fourth-quarter drop of 4.2 per cent.

The figures mark the seventh consecutive quarterly drop in sales but they beat a forecast by analysts of a 1.8 to 3.5 per cent drop. It is also the company's best performance since the second quarter of its 2007/08 year.

Executive chairman Stuart Rose said: "Consumer confidence appears to be stabilising.

"However, we remain cautious about the outlook for the remainder of this and next year and will continue to run the business accordingly."