M&S turnaround plan fails to win over investors

© Naiyyer

Marks & Spencer’s third-quarter results show little sign of reversing the firm’s declining fortunes, with a 5.9% year-on-year dip in non-food sales.

In the aftermath of this performance, chief executive Steve Rowe announced plans to close 30 stores and downsize a further 45 – a 25% reduction in the retailer’s floor space.

The closures will not just affect M&S’s UK business; 53 stores are set to be shut internationally, including 10 in China.

Mr Rowe plans to realign the company’s focus, with a drive towards the more-profitable food arm of the business – although even that recorded a marginal decline – with the opening of 200 Simply Food stores by 2019.

Investor reactions to the plans were lukewarm.