British retail chain Marks & Spencer has reported its third consecutive fall in annual profits for the year to the end of March.
Pre-tax profits before exceptional items dropped to £480.9m sterling from £517.2m in the previous year, with total UK like-for-like sales down 2.6%.
Profits at the division which includes its stores in the Republic of Ireland, however, rose from just under £18m to £22.6m in the period.
Irish general manager Steve Costello said all four of Marks & Spencer's Irish stores had significant increases in sales across all product ranges, with food sales described as 'buoyant'. The company employs 1,500 people in Dublin (Mary Street, Grafton Street and Liffey Valley) and Cork
In March, M&S decided to pull out of continental Europe and sell its US businesses, a move which will see it take a once-off charge of over £330m. After exceptional costs, bottom line pre-tax profit slumped to £145.5m, from £417.5m the previous year.
Chief executive Luc Vandevelde said M&S had been hit by 'unacceptable' adult clothing sales. Overall group sales, including European stores and US subsidiaries, were £8.1bn, down from £8.2bn the year before.
Clothing, footwear and gift sales were down 5.5% compared to the equivalent 52-week trading period last year, while food and home sales rose by 3.7% and
11.5% respectively. Total like-for-like sales, which strip out income from new stores, fell by 2.6%.
