Rose and fall

9 January 2008 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

The M&S boss has shocked the market with a trading statement that has wiped 20% off the UK retailer’s shares. The stock is now just a few pence above what Philip Green was prepared to offer four years ago and, faced with a consumer slowdown, Rose seems to have run out of ideas.

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Marks & Spencer, the UK retailer, said likeforlike sales fell 2.2% in the third quarter ending December 29, compared with the same period last year. Sales fell 1.5% on a likeforlike basis in food, and 3.2% general merchandise, which includes clothing and homewares.

Many analysts had expected M&S to report positive growth, despite recent warnings from clothing retailer Next and electricals retailer DSG International. By midmorning, M&S shares had fallen to 409p, their lowest level in two years.

On Wednesday afternoon, M&S said that chief executive Sir Stuart Rose had bought just over £1m of shares at 410p each. Steven Esom and Carl Leaver, two senior executives, and M&S chairman Lord Burns also bought shares worth a total of around £270,000.

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