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| Marks and Spencer sales continue to fall | Marks and Spencer sales continue to fall |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Marks and Spencer has reported falling clothing and food sales and has warned that it sees little improvement in sales this year. | Marks and Spencer has reported falling clothing and food sales and has warned that it sees little improvement in sales this year. |
| Overall like-for-like sales, which strip out store openings, were down 2.2% for the six months to the end of September. | Overall like-for-like sales, which strip out store openings, were down 2.2% for the six months to the end of September. |
| Like-for-like food sales fell 2.9% and clothing and home sales slid 1.1%. | Like-for-like food sales fell 2.9% and clothing and home sales slid 1.1%. |
| M&S warned trading conditions for the remainder of the financial year will remain "challenging". | M&S warned trading conditions for the remainder of the financial year will remain "challenging". |
| "We are expecting little improvement in sales trajectory," the firm said. | "We are expecting little improvement in sales trajectory," the firm said. |
| M&S chief executive, Steve Rowe, told the BBC that food was "trading behind our expectations", but the retailer was "re-shaping" its business, with prices lowered on hundreds of food items. | |
| "What we are doing is making sure we protect the magic of M&S," he said. | |
| However, he said M&S was "continuing to review" its store closure programme and did not rule out further closures, especially as one-third of its business would be online in future. | |
| Mr Rowe said 32 million people visited M&S stores every year, so the retailer had "a broad range of customers". | |
| "What we have to do is have a broad range of merchandise available that suits all their tastes," he added. | |
| In all, M&S plans to close 100 shops by 2022, as announced in May. It says the turnaround is "vital" for its future. | |
| Under its plan, M&S intends to have fewer, larger clothing and homeware stores in better locations. | |
| It says it is facing competition from online retailers, as well as discounters such as Aldi, Lidl and Primark. | |
| Its directors were not awarded bonuses this year because of the firm's disappointing results. | |
| M&S is attempting to re-shape itself at a time when the High Street is under unprecedented pressure. | |
| Since the start of this year, a number of retailers have collapsed, including Toys R Us, Maplin and Poundworld. | |
| Other stores, such as clothing chain New Look, have announced restructuring plans of their own that involve closing large numbers of outlets. |