As its general merchandise sales plummeted over the
Christmas period, UK’s leading retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) has
announced that chief executive Marc Bolland will retire in early April and he
will be succeeded by new director of general merchandise Steve Rowe.
General merchandise fell 5.8% on a like-for-like basis in
the 13 weeks to 26 December.
On BBC's Radio 4 this morning, Bolan said he informed the
board in the summer of 2015 that he was planning to leave in 2016. Bolland said
he has completed core tasks such as restructuring the retailer's website in his
six-year period at M&S. He is set
to stay in his position until the end of the current financial year.
Bolland said in a statement, "It has been a huge honour
to lead one of Britain's most iconic companies." "I am delighted to
handover to Steve Rowe as my successor. I have worked closely with Steve for
six years and I am convinced that he will be a great leader for Marks and
Spencer."
According to financial news reports, the retailer's share
price has climbed over 15% under Bolland's regime, although sales in the
current financial year have not taken off significantly yet. Merchandise was
down 0.4% like-for-like in the first quarter. M&S shares were up more than 1.5% in early morning
trading.
Meanwhile M&S’ clothing rival and UK's second largest retailer - Next - also released
disappointing Christmas sales figures earlier in the week while blaming it on
unseasonal warm weather.
“This quarter was unusual in that we didn’t have any cold
weeks. There’s not a lot you can do. When it’s warm in winter people don’t buy
T-shirts and shorts,” said chief executive Lord Wolfson.
Next reported Tuesday revenue that missed analysts’
estimates, and, consequently, that profit will come in at the bottom of its
forecast range.
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