// M&S saw a record Christmas trading day on December 23, with £80m coming through the tills
// The business maintains its position as the nation’s leading turkey retailer, a title it has now held for three years
Marks & Spencer has hailed strong Christmas trading, posting record food sales and its highest clothing and home market share for seven years.
The department store retailer saw a 6.3% rise in like-for-like sales across its food halls in the 13 weeks to December 31, with its largest Christmas sales of more than £80 million on December 23 and its highest share of the market.
It saw clothing and home comparable store sales rise 8.6%, giving it a market share of over 10% – its highest level since 2015.
Chief Executive Stuart Machin said: “This performance across both our businesses provides confidence in delivering our full-year results.”
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The retailer’s high-end food offer continued to appeal to shoppers at Christmas, despite increasing economic pressure on consumers amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The business benefited from improved availability of seasonal lines including turkeys, where it said it held onto its leading market share for the third year running.
It added that its “Remarksable Value” offer also performed strongly, with its products now featuring in over 20% of baskets.
However, it remained cautious about the wider economic environment, saying there were “clear macro-economic headwinds ahead and underlying cost pressures”, but it was confident its full-year results would meet its guidance.
Machin said: “M&S sustained trading momentum through the peak quarter and both food and clothing and home have delivered strong growth.”
“Given the inflationary pressures impacting our customers and our business, M&S is taking action to structurally reduce costs and reinforce our customer proposition.”
The business is looking to make savings of about £150 million in 2023/24 to offset raging inflation and help it weather tougher trading.
M&S international sales rose 12.5% at constant currency, with a strong performance in key franchise markets in the Middle East and owned markets including India in the 13 weeks to December 31.
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