Marks & Spencer Clothing Sales Rise to Bring Relief for Bolland

LONDON, United Kingdom — Marks & Spencer Group Plc said sales at its general-merchandise unit rose for the first time since 2011 as the U.K.'s largest clothing retailer recovered from difficulties at its new distribution center over Christmas.

Same-store sales at the non-food division gained 0.7 percent in the 13 weeks ended March 28, the London-based retailer said Thursday in a statement. That compares with the previous quarter’s 5.8 percent drop and median estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg for a 1.1 percent decline.

“We have made strong progress,” Chief Executive Officer Marc Bolland said in the statement. The improved performance in general merchandise was driven by “continued focus on product quality and styling,” M&S said. Same-store sales in the food department also increased 0.7 percent.

The sales performance will provide some relief for Bolland after the difficulties of the previous quarter, when the Castle Donington distribution center in central England struggled to process a surge of orders prompted by the Black Friday weekend. Marks & Spencer’s non-food sales declined for about four years as the retailer has fought in vain to stem the defection of shoppers to rivals including Next Plc and Primark.

Also Thursday, the retailer kept its forecast for gross margins at the general-merchandise unit to widen by 1.5 to 2 percentage points for the year. Marks & Spencer is scheduled to publish fiscal 2015 earnings on May 20.

The shares fell 0.8 percent to 530.5 pence in London yesterday, trimming their gain to 11 percent this year.

By Sam Chambers. Editors: Matthew Boyle, Paul Jarvis.