M&S Christmas food sales soar but clothing suffers from cyber-attack fallout

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 2 min read 100% complete by Sarah ButlerJanuary 8, 2026 at 09:14 AM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

Marks & Spencer (M&S) reported strong Christmas food sales but a decline in clothing sales, impacted by the after-effects of a previous cyber-attack and reduced high street footfall. Overall sales rose 3.3% to £4.15 billion in the three months to December 27th, with established store sales up 5.6% and clothing sales down 2.9%. The company's clothing, homeware, and beauty business was also affected by fragile consumer confidence and milder weather. M&S plans to accelerate its reshaping strategy, focusing on expanding food offerings and adjusting store formats. Online grocery sales at Ocado, its joint venture, increased by 13.7%. The CEO stated the non-food business is recovering, while the food business gained market share through core grocery items and product upgrades.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Next 60% Christmas ×360% Stuart Machin 70% Ocado ×270% Marks & Spencer ×990%

Keywords

christmas sales 90% food sales 80% clothing sales 80% cyber-attack 70% retail sales 60% online orders 50% consumer confidence 50% market share 40% high street 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral

Score: 0.10

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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christmas sales food sales clothing sales cyber-attack retail sales online orders consumer confidence market share high street

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