Having spent the past three years, and a great deal of money, laying the foundations for growth, Marks & Spencer (MKS) will now focus on delivery. So pledged chief executive Marc Bolland as he unveiled a 4 per cent fall in the retailer's underlying pre-tax profit to £623m.
The strategy is to improve margins and profitability in the important general merchandise (GM) division, where underlying sales fell by 1.4 per cent in the year. Mr Bolland is targeting a 100 basis-point increase in the gross margin, to be delivered through improved sourcing. But that might not be enough to appease long-suffering investors. They were promised a 30 to 50 basis-point margin improvement this year, but were instead served up a 110 basis-point fall, as the high-street retailer came under pressure from promotional activity.