Bolland under pressure as M&S to post gloomy update

MARKS & Spencer is set for another disappointing update when it delivers its half-year figures on Wednesday.

Chief executive Marc Bolland ( pictured) is under intense pressure after a raft of initiatives have yet to turn around the troubled women’s clothing arm.

Sources said secondquarter sales of general merchandise – which includes clothing, lingerie, childrenswear and beauty – are likely to have fallen by 1.9pc. This is much worse than the 1.2pc fall analysts were expecting.

The wet summer and competition from rivals that dropped prices was behind poor trading in the past few weeks. The latest research from data group Kantar showed M&S lost market share, and this is thought to have dragged that figure down.

A fall in sales of 1.9pc would be worse than the 0.4pc fall seen in the 13 weeks to June 27, and below the 0.7pc increase seen in the quarter before that – the division’s first growth in nearly four years. That broke a spell of 14 consecutive quarters of falling sales, raising questions about whether Bolland has the right strategy.

M&S has been criticised for stocking outdated designs that had failed to chime with shoppers. While items such as a 1970s-style suede skirt worn by model Alexa Chung helped improve the image of M&S’s range, it does not seem to have made much of an impact at the tills.

Bolland is likely to focus on the improved profit margins at the half-year results. He pledged in July at the annual meeting that he would cut back on promotions and source products in a more efficient way to save cash.

The cost savings are expected to have helped M&S post underlying interim pre-tax profit up by 0.7pc to £270m. One shining light will be the food division, which is expected to see sales up 0.2pc. This is a strong performance given rival grocers have all suffered over recent months.

Bolland will also face questions over a glitch in the M&S website last week which meant customers could see each other’s personal details.