Marks & Spencer has over 500 stores located throughout the UK, providing nearly 12.5 million square feet of selling space.
Stuart Rose, Chief Executive, said: “We had a good first half despite a tough market impacted by unseasonable trading conditions, and at a time when many of our stores were undergoing major refurbishment.
“Whilst the short term economic outlook remains uncertain, the actions we have taken to reposition and revitalise M&S over the last three years put us in a good position to continue to outperform and give us confidence in the long term growth prospects of the business.
“We continue to improve our core business. By Christmas we will have modernised 70% of our space. We will have around 90% completed by Christmas next year.
We are ahead of our space growth target and now have a pipeline which will deliver 15% growth in three years and 20% in four.
Our Direct business is on course to generate £500m of sales by 2010 and we are building momentum on International.
“We are stepping up our capital investment in the business and expect to spend more than £1bn in 2007/08 and in 2008/09. Investing in the business remains our priority but the strength of our balance sheet is such that we also intend to repurchase up to £1bn of shares, representing around 10% of the Company's issued share capital.
In addition, the Board is announcing a step change in the interim dividend to 8.3p up 31.7% on last year. These decisions reflect our confidence in the strength and future prospects of the business.”
marketing@alchempro.com
