Rental costs to haunt M&S as losses mount

Despite some encouraging results, there remains an 'elephant in the room' for the luxury retailer.

Huge rent and lease costs are set to haunt retail giant Marks & Spencer despite it seeing some recovery hopes from an historic first-half loss.

The retailer reported the first loss in its 94 years as a publicly listed company after clothing sales were hammered by the Covid-19 pandemic, but an encouraging performance in food sent its battered shares higher.