Future uncertain for Marks & Spencer after decades of failed reinventions

Britain's Marks & Spencer reported a 2 per cent rise in first-half profit but underlying sales declined in both clothing and food, hurt by disruption from its latest attempt at a turnaround after over a decade of failed reinventions.

M&S, one of the best known names in British retail, said on Wednesday it made a pretax profit before one-off items of 223.5 million pounds ($293.2 million) in the six months to Sept. 29 - ahead of analysts' average forecast of 203 million pounds and 219.1 million pounds made in the same period last year.

Clothing & home like-for-like sales fell 1.1 per cent, while food sales down 2.9 per cent on the same basis. Profit was up due to the phasing of its cost programme.

M&S, which is targeting sustainable, profitable growth in three to five years, said trading conditions "remain challenging".