Marks and Spencer says it has big plans in store for Republic

Retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) said yesterday that it would expand its presence in the Republic by 30 to 40 per cent over the next five years.

"In Ireland, we have a strong pipeline of new stores and expect to add 30-40 per cent of new space over the next five years," M&S said in its interim results published yesterday.

A spokeswoman for M&S said this would equate to five or six new stores in the Republic over the period.

The British retailer opened its 16th outlet here last week at the new Athlone Towncentre. Its 17th will open for business in Mullingar on November 30th. It currently operates from 580,000 sq ft of space at a mix of department stores and food-only outlets that operate under the Simply Food brand.

M&S yesterday also announced plans to open a store in the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords, north Co Dublin, at a retail conference in the north of England.

M&S did not provide figures for its Irish stores as part of its interim results yesterday.

Its total sales increased by 6.5 per cent to £4.2 billion in the six months to the end of September, while its pre-tax profit increased by 35 per cent to £550.1 million.

M&S said its international sales, which includes its stores in Ireland, rose by 13.8 per cent to £320 million.

This division achieved an operating profit of £52.5 million, up 31.3 per cent on the same period of 2006.

Sales in the UK, which includes its 16 stores in Northern Ireland, increased by 5.9 per cent to £3.9 billion.

M&S's international division comprises 257 stores in 36 countries, including India, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"We believe that there is a significant opportunity to grow our international business going forward, and are targeting a 15-20 per cent contribution to group revenues within the next five years," the company said.

M&S relaunched its website offering in March, and said sales have since risen by 60 per cent. "We are pleased with the progress of Direct, and continue to target £500 million of sales from the business by 2010."

The retailer also announced plans to buy back up to 10 per cent of its own shares at a cost of £1 billion.

M&S's shares rose by 21 pence or 3.3 per cent yesterday to £6.53 in London, the biggest daily percentage gain since September 27th.