MARKS AND SPENCER shares surged to the top of the FTSE 100 yesterday after the company published a bumper set of results.

Shares in the company jumped 9.4 per cent before eventually closing up just over five per cent. M&S posted a 58 per cent jump in profit before tax for the full year as chief Stuart Machin's (pictured) turnaround plan paid off.

Analysts had previously forecast a 35 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £653m for the year to April, with revenue growth of 8.9 per cent.

However, the retail behemoth said revenue was up 9.3 per cent on last year's figures to £13bn, helped by demand for clothing and food lines.

Food sales did particularly well, up 13 per cent; while clothing sales were also up 5.3 per cent.

Pro.t before tax and adjusting items came in at £716.4m and adjusted basic earnings per share jumped 45.6 per cent to 24.6p.

Off the back of the figures, Marks and Spencer said it had "the opportunity to restore dividend payments at a sustainable level." It proposed a final dividend of 2p, giving a dividend for the full year of 3p per share.

M&S also provided insight into how Ocado, the online grocery business it has a 50 per cent stake in, was performing.

Revenue increased 11.2 per cent to £2.47bn, while EBITDA came in at £26.8m against a loss of £15.1m last year.

M&S said although the financial performance of Ocado Retail remains disappointing, the "revenue improvement this year under the new management team has been marked".

(c) 2024 City A.M., source Newspaper