Sales figures 'to put M&S chief under pressure'
Marks & Spencer chairman Luc Vandevelde is expected to come under further pressure tomorrow when he reports what City analysts predict will be a disappointing set of Christmas trading figures.
Mr Vandevelde joined M&S a year ago this week, pledging to turn around its fortunes in just two years.
Despite his brave words, M&S has since seen sales and profits tumble, and last year was forced to make its first ever dividend cut, from 14.4p a share to 9p.
Last November, poor half-year figures saw analysts downgrade their full-year forecasts, yet Mr Vandevelde insisted there "is nothing in the way of us improving our trading over Christmas".
Amanda Large, retail analyst at Gerrard, says: "The spring and summer ranges will be the turning point. These will be the first to be brought in under the new buying processes, under the new team, and it will be interesting to see if the core customers react or if M&S has alienated them for good."
Ms Large predicts M&S will report a near 10% drop in like-for-like clothing sales over the Christmas period. She suggests food sales will show only marginal growth of 2%, while the strongest growth will be in homeware.
Another analyst says that, being a realist, Mr Vandevelde will probably "fall on his sword" if M&S's sales don't begin to improve. "He gave himself two years, and he seems pretty frank with himself, so he'll probably say 'If this is the performance next year, I do not expect to be here'."
Rowan Morgan, retail analyst at Teather & Greenwood, says: "M&S needs to focus on the lines that account for a large percentage of sales. They need to get these back on track."
M&S reported full-year pre-tax profits of £417.5 million last July, down from £546.1 million the year before and from more than £1 billion two years ago.
The retailer's shares were down marginally today, trading at 195.75p, off 3.75p. They were at 304.25p on the day Mr Vandevelde joined.
