Marks & Spencer (M&S) has described its performance in the third quarter of its financial year as "another good Christmas”, as the retailer continues to build on a "strong performance in the prior year".

The group saw its total sales increase by 5.6% year-on-year to £4.06bn in the 13 weeks to 28 December, while total food sales also increased by 8.9% to £2.58bn.

In terms of like-for-like sales, food increased by 8.9%, which M&S stated was a result of a "focus on quality, innovation and trusted value".

The group has declared itself the "top performing store-based grocery retailer" in the period, with sales of Christmas products increasing by 14% year-on-year.

Chief executive at M&S, Stuart Machin, said: "This was another good Christmas for M&S, building on a strong performance in the prior year.

"Core category sales grew strongly as more customers ticked off their whole shopping list at M&S. There were a few growing pains as we delivered our biggest ever volumes, particularly in smaller stores, reaffirming the opportunity to accelerate transformation of the food supply chain and go even faster on store renewal and rotation."

In terms of clothing, home and beauty, M&S said that its "focus on style, quality and value" saw sales grow in "challenging conditions".

Although the retailer said that there "remains work to do to right size the store estate" and invest in online growth, its online sales were up 11.7% after being driven by "customer growth and improved availability".

Looking ahead, M&S said there are "substantial opportunities" in 2025, despite the company facing higher costs from tax increases. It stated that it is "confident of making further progress" in the remainder of the year, as its looks to "reshape M&S for growth".

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, concluded: "M&S’ commitment to value is paying off with its customers. While food was reassuringly strong, in-store sales of clothing were down, with online coming to the rescue to a certain degree. Meanwhile, the international operations are doing little to justify their place in the wider group.

"Dragging M&S’ shares down is the gloomy tone adopted in the outlook statement. While understandable given the impact of the Budget changes, sticky inflation and higher for longer rates, the comments chime with the current bleak mood around the UK’s economic prospects.

"Notably, M&S is more reliant on discretionary spend than Tesco, given its much more meaningful presence in non-food categories."

---