M&S Delivers 'Solid Christmas'

Marks and Spencer Group PLC has published a Christmas Trading update, covering the 13 weeks to 27 December 2025. 

1 Food, Fashion, Home & Beauty and Ocado Retail at reported sales. International and Group sales at constant currency. Results of the Channel Islands have been reclassified from International to be reported within either Food or Fashion, Home & Beauty. 

2 Food and Group sales growth excludes Gist third party sales in the current and prior year and direct sales to Ocado Retail in the prior year which are now eliminated on consolidation.

3 Ocado Retail was consolidated by M&S from 6 April 2025, so for statutory purposes there is no prior year comparative. Comparative year-on-year trading performance has been included in the commentary below for the 13 weeks to 28 December 2025.

Stuart Machin, Chief Executive said: “A record number of customers shopped M&S this Christmas. From the festive food shop, to picking up party outfits and gifts, millions more trusted M&S to deliver the family Christmas.

Food sales were strong and the business continues to outperform, hitting a new market share milestone in the period. We are the UK’s fastest growing grocer for families, reflecting our investment in value and core family staples, and demonstrating progress in our journey to become a shopping list retailer.

Fashion, Home & Beauty is getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery. Sales overall were slightly down but online performance continued to improve as digital sales recovered. We planned a bigger Sale this year, with strong sell-through already making way for our new season lines.

We enter this new calendar year full of ambition and laser focused on our plan to reshape M&S for further growth. In Food, we have even more first to market innovation coming and further investment in quality and price. And in Fashion, our new season ranges are resonating well with customers as we double down on value, quality and style.

I’d like to thank our customers for shopping with us, our colleagues for all their hard work, and wish everyone a happy and healthy 2026. We are looking forward with confidence.”

In the lead up to Christmas our focus was on delivering a strong seasonal offer for our customers and restoring progress in our ‘Reshaping’ strategy. Food volumes outperformed the market, and Fashion, Home & Beauty performance improved, with a return to growth online. This was despite an environment marked by fragile consumer confidence and milder weather.

Food underlying sales increased 6.6%, with like-for-like sales up 5.6% and UK volume growth of 2.3%. M&S has outperformed the market1 for more than three years in both value and volume, and in November market share reached 4.0%2, a historical high. Strong operational execution and the sell-through of Christmas hero lines resulted in higher sales and lower markdown and waste versus the prior year.

Sales growth was underpinned by strength in core grocery categories, with innovation and quality upgrades - such as Italian ready meals, in-store bakery and deli. In the period M&S saw an increase in both shoppers and frequency3. Value ranges, including ‘Remarksable Value’ and ‘Bigger Pack, Better Value’, grew by 20% as we continue to expand the available range.

New and renewal stores outperformed the rest of the business, with new locations such as Cannock and the recently extended Chiswick store exceeding expectations.

Fashion, Home & Beauty sales decreased 2.5%, with like-for-like sales down 2.9% as online sales growth was offset by store sales decline. Performance reflected reduced high street footfall, and the long tail impact on stock data and management following the incident earlier in the year. Stock into Sale during December was higher than last year but sell-through rates have been strong.

M&S regained market share leadership4 in the period and now holds the number one position for customer perceptions of style, quality and value5. New season product is resonating with customers and new stores such as Bristol Cabot Circus are exceeding expectations, demonstrating the benefits of the store rotation strategy.

International sales were up 0.9% on the year as new wholesale agreements, online growth and Food franchise offset Fashion, Home & Beauty shipment phasing and India performance.

Ocado Retail sales increased 13.7%, driven by volume growth of 10.7% and order growth of 11.0%. M&S sales on Ocado.com increased by 16.3% and accounted for c.30% of total Ocado Retail sales.

Outlook

As we enter 2026, we plan to accelerate the reshaping strategy against the context of an uncertain consumer environment. Our focus is on the customer: creating exceptional products, increasing investment in trusted value, transforming stores and online experience, improving supply chains and delivering structural cost reductions.

Our full-year guidance remains unchanged.

Source : Marks & Spencer

Image : M&S Gemini store (corporate)

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