Financial Summary
· Profit before tax & adjusting items down 5.4% impacted by the decrease in Food gross margin.
· Significant adjusting items of £514.1m including £321.1m for our UK store estate closure programme. Cash costs of transformation remain in line with plan.
· Strong cash generation even after restructuring costs reduced net debt by £107.2m, enabling the maintenance of a full year dividend, unchanged at 18.7p.
· Clothing & Home gross margin up 50 basis points with full price sales level. Revenue down 1.4% due to planned removal of two clearance sales, and unseasonal second half trading conditions.
· Food revenue growth of 3.9% driven by new stores. Gross margin down 140bps, as we continued to absorb input cost inflation.
· UK costs up 1.8% due to costs of new space, inflation and channel shift offset by efficiencies and lower incentive costs.
· International profit before adjusting items more than doubled to £135.2m, as a result of the successful exit of loss-making owned markets and favourable currency effects.
And later;
Dividend
We have announced a final dividend of 11.9p (full year dividend 18.7p, level year-on-year). This will be paid on 13 July 2018 to shareholders on the register of members as at close of business on 1 June 2018, subject to approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, to be held on 10 July 2018.
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