M&S warning despite Christmas sales boost

The renaissance of Marks & Spencer continued today with healthy Christmas sales – but the retailer warned that rising costs would dog its future performance.

M&S, whose shares recently hit their highest level since 1998, bettered the expectations of analysts by reporting a 2.9% rise in like-for-like sales during the 13 weeks to New Year’s Eve.

Food saw the strongest improvement with same-store sales up 5.1% compared with City forecasts of 3% growth, while sales of general merchandise such as clothing were up 0.8%.

But chief executive Stuart Rose said the market was likely to remain challenging and M&S was facing increasing cost pressures.

He said: “Costs of fuel, utilities, rent and rates have risen sharply and will have an impact next year.”