Marks & Spencer has hit their first loss in its 94 years of being listed as a PLC due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The retailer has made a loss of £87.6 million and was set to cut 7,000 jobs over three months since August. Steve Rowe, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, stated that the performance of the firm had been “more robust than at first seemed possible”.
Sales during the past six months slid by 15.8% to £4.09 billion pounds due to a decrease in clothings and home during lockdowns. City centre stores had a decrease of 53% in clothing sales from July and September. However, M&S stated that they anticipate that more formal clothes will return in the near future.
M&S is going strong in its joint venture with Ocado Retail and started delivering the retailer’s food at the start of September. The partnership has improved 47.9% in sales, as well as profitability. Its grocery business performed well over the six months and could possibly rival the big retailers.
Photo credit: https://internetretailing.net/covid-19/covid-19/marks–spencer-plans-to-up-the-pace-of-change-in-response-to-pandemic-21308
News credit: BBC
