Marks & Spencer last night revealed a bigger-than-expected slump in clothing sales over Christmas.
Non-food sales at the retail bellweather were down 3.8% in the 13 weeks to December 29. This pushed overall like-for-like UK sales down 1.8%.
The trading statement was due for release this morning but Sky reported the figures last night, and the retailer released them almost 12 hours early.
The figures were worse than expected, with most analysts predicting a 1.5% like-for-like decline in general merchandise sales.
But the group produced a better-than-expected performance in its food business, where sales were up 0.3% on a like-for-like basis. It had record sales of almost £330 million in the two key Christmas trading weeks.
Free next-day store collection helped push online sales up 10.8%.
