Marks & Spencer set to shut 60 stores after half-year profit plunge warning

Marks & Spencer is to close 60 clothing and home stores as it posts an 18.6% plunge in half-year profits. In a radical shake-up of its business model to cut costs as part of a revival plan, will close about 30 full line UK stores and change around 45 stores to only sell food. Other UK stores would be re-located. The full list of closures has not yet been revealed but M&S plans to shut 53 stores across 10 international markets - including 10 in China and seven in France, while pulling out of Belgium, Estonia, Hungary and Lithuania - putting around 2,100 jobs at risk. New chief executive Steve Rowe remains tight-lipped on the number of UK staff impacted by the plans, but said that, where possible, it would keep "job continuity" for affected employees.

Marks & Spencer flagship store in Paris will be shut

M&S insists it will have more stores overall after the revamp, having already announced more than 200 Simply Food outlets will open by the end of the 2018/19 financial year. The latest restructure moves come as M&S revealed more sales falls in its embattled clothing division, with like-for-like sales down by 5.9% in the first half. But it narrowed the sales decline from 8.9% in the first quarter - its worst performance for a decade - to 2.9% in the second quarter.
M&S has reported an 18.6% fall in underlying pretax profit for its first half to October 1, though that is slightly better than expected. Profits of around £216million were predicted, but the actual figure posted this morning was £231.1 million. The international closures are part of a new plan to focus its international business on a franchise model. Pulling out of those international markets is expected to eliminate annual losses of £45 million.