Coke and Kellogg’s to appear on M&S shelves

M&S decision to stock names such as Coca-Cola, Fairy, Heinz, Kellogg’s and Persil is a significant shift in direction for the retailer and follows trials at stores in the North East and South East of England.

The brands will be introduced in the trial areas this month and expand into the rest of the country from January. No M&S lines will be removed and prices will be matched to other UK multiples.

Chairman Stuart Rose said an “edited selection of branded products” has its place at Marks and Spencer. “Our customers lead increasingly busy lives so buying those essential, must-have branded products at M&S will help them save time,” he said.

Rose was also upbeat about M&S’ performance in the 26 weeks to 26 September. Group sales rose by 2.8% to £4.3bn, boosted by 12.2% international sales growth.

UK sales increased by 1.8% and pre-tax profit remained constant at £306.7m.

Rose said M&S had made a good start to the third quarter. “The market remains competitive and we remain cautious about the out look for Christmas and the year ahead.”

M&S had also published its half-yearly update on the progress of its environmental Plan A. Packaging was mentioned only to say reduction initiatives had led to two awards, while Rose praised the “hundreds of millions of carrier bags” saved each year as customers switched to re-usable bags.

M&S HALF-YEAR RESULTS 2009

Revenue £4.3bn (£4.2bn in first half 2008)
Operating profit £373.4m (£382m)
Pre-tax profit £306.7m (£307.8m)

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