MARKS HAS LOST SPARK

Hot weather hits Xmas sales

MARKS & Spencer saw sales slump during the festive period as trade plummeted by almost 3%.

The struggling high-street store blamed balmy weather for keeping shoppers from its stores at Christmas.

In the 13 weeks to December 30, sales sank by 2.8% in its clothing ® and homeware departments. In the past, the food division has kept the store afloat – but even sales there tanked, with takings down by 0.4%.

The news sent shockwaves through the City and shares tumbled by 2.4%.

M&S boss Steve Rowe said: “M&S had a mixed quarter with better Christmas trading in both firms going some way to offset a weak clothing market in October and ongoing under-performance in our food like-for-like sales.”

He claimed inflation had sent shoppers flocking to budget supermarket chains.

The retail boss admitted that while they slashed prices on 200 lines before Christmas, they had not done enough to stay competitive on everyday items.

Department store House of Fraser also announced a shock downturn in profits. Sales dropped by 2.9% in the run-up to Christmas.

But rival John Lewis enjoyed a 3.1% growth over Christmas.

Meanwhile, the big supermarket winners over the last three months were Lidl and Aldi.

Lidl claimed it was the “fastest growing supermarket” over Christmas and fellow German chain Aldi notched up a doubledigit rise, helping it rake in over £10billion in turnover last year.