IT’S not just a turnaround, it’s an M&S turnaround. At long last.
The announcement yesterday of a “significant improvement” in profits is the latest sign the iconic chain has its mojo back.
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An 11 per cent jump in food sales shows the shop Brits used to love to moan about is on the way back.
It’s not just down to posh sarnies either, or the addition of online grocery sales through its Ocado venture.
Instead, boss Stuart Machin has boosted volumes with the lower-priced “Remarksable” range which has encouraged shoppers to buy basics alongside ready-meal treats.
Shoppers, and investors, are also celebrating the success of M&S’s clothing.
Sales are up 6 per cent in the past 19 weeks, this after years of slumps or sluggish trundling.
One reason is that bosses are no longer chasing teens who can buy £5 bikinis from fast fashion online retailers.
Instead they are appealing to over-50s raised with ’70s styles and punk fashion who do not want a sea of beige on the rails.
Time-poor parents who like well-priced, trendy and versatile outfits are also catered for.
It helps that M&S has more than 40 brands on its website.
But the real magic has been worked by ex-Topshop style guru Maddy Evans who knows the difference between a fashion hit and faux pas.
Shoppers have snaffled 35,000 scallop- design swimsuit this summer.
The firm, which has 65,000 staff and more than 1,000 shops, has also built up a retail crack squad rather than rely on consultants, like many rivals.
After years in the fashion doldrums and fall to the FTSE 250, a 6.7% share price rise yesterday means M&S is back knocking on the FTSE 100 door.
A top flight spot matters to one of the UK’s best-known firms.
Grocery costs in July fall
FOOD price inflation has fallen for the fifth month in a row, in a glimmer of hope for shoppers.
It dipped to 12.7 per cent in July from 14.9 per cent according to market research group Kantar.
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It was the sharpest monthly fall since 2008.
Overall shopping bills are still significantly higher than a year ago, but supermarkets have started to cut the price of some grocery staples as cost pressures have eased.
Average milk prices have fallen to £1.50 for four pints, compared to £1.69 in March, and sunflower oil has been lowered to £2.19, 22p cheaper than in the Spring.
But a washout summer saw ice cream sales slump by 30 per cent — with the gloomy weather sending soup sales 16 per cent higher than in July.
Separately, Asda yesterday revealed its like-for-like sales grew by 9.6 per cent in the three months to the end of June, hitting £5.4billion.
ITV bid to ease pain
AFTER a number of recent headaches at ITV, the Love Island broadcaster has struck an unusual deal to take a stake in the maker of a painkiller tablet.
Bosses said they would give Flarin, which manufactures a type of ibuprofen, £5million worth of TV advertising in return for an equity stake in the company.
ITV has previously done advertising deals with car buying marketplace Carwow.
888 losing bets
BETTING giant 888 posted a 7 per cent fall in its sales to £881.6million yesterday amid a rash of recent scandals.
The online bookie said UK sales were down by 3 per cent to £615.3million.
But the company, which bought William Hill in a £2billion deal last year, says it can squeeze out £150million of cost savings.
888 has faced a money laundering investigation into its Middle Eastern business.
UK regulators also said its licence would be under threat if gambling industry veteran Kenny Alexander succeeded in his efforts to become CEO.
MORE than nine million Brits have been turned down for credit in the past year, a study found.
Poor credit history, being unable to afford repayments and having too much other credit were given as reasons, the Money and Pensions Service reported.
Rouble trouble
RUSSIA’S central bank raised its interest rate by 3.5 per cent yesterday to stop the country’s ailing currency crumbling even further.
The Bank of Russia jacked up rates to 12 per cent as the rouble fell below 100 to the dollar on Monday.
The rouble has fallen by a quarter in the past year.
Nearly 18 months into his war in Ukraine, Putin’s economy is faltering as Western sanctions hit his exports and military spend.
The Bank of Russia said it hoped to “limit price stability risks” as “inflationary pressure is building up”.
Iceland’s formula for help
ICELAND has cut the price of infant formula by around 20 per cent to help families in the cost-of-living crisis.
Some brands of infant milk have risen by 40 per cent in the past two years.
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Iceland’s own research found that 86 per cent of parents were concerned about the rising cost of the product.
The supermarket is cutting Aptamil from £14.50 to £12, dropping Cow & Gate down from £11.50 to £9.75 and reducing the cost of SMA milk from £7 to £5.75.
Legislation designed to promote breastfeeding makes it illegal for retailers to put promotions on infant milk, or let shoppers use award points to lower the cost.
Richard Walker, the boss of Iceland, said the move was the “right thing to do” to support its customers.
He added: “We believe we should be able to communicate to customers that we are there to help them in the cost-of- living crisis”.
‘De-bank’ reviewed
THE City watchdog has told Westminster it may change its guidance to banks on handling “politically exposed persons” in the wake of its probe.
The Financial Conduct Authority has written to MPs to ask for any evidence to show they may have been treated by their banks as “PEPs”.
The investigation follows the debacle around NatWest’s “de-banking” of Nigel Farage by Coutts.
It emerged that the private bank had compiled a dossier on the former Ukip leader’s political views, which it used to justify dropping him as a customer.
The FCA said that it would publish the full terms of its review in September but it would take until next June for a report to be published.
