Marks & Spencer said it urgently had to modernise or risk fading away as it reported a second straight decline in annual profit and booked a £321 million charge for a store closure programme.
The 134-year-old M&S faces unrelenting competition from supermarkets, fashion chains like Zara, H&M and Primark, as well as online giant Amazon, while efforts to revitalise its business are being hampered by ongoing pressure on UK consumers' spending power.
M&S reset its strategy in November, two months after retail veteran Archie Norman joined as chairman, detailing a five-year programme of store closures and relocations, and moves to make its misfiring food business more competitive.
Yesterday, M&S said it would close 100 UK stores by 2022,further accelerating the plan as it strives to make at least a third of sales online.
M&S, one of the best known names in British retail, said it made a pretax profit before one-off items of £580.9m in the year to March 31.
That was ahead of analysts' average forecast of £573m but down from £613.8m made in 2016-17.
After taking account of adjusted items of £514.1m, including the charge relating to store closures, pre-tax profit was £66.8m, a 62% fall.
Turnover was broadly flat at £10.7bn.
"We have to modernise our business to ensure we are competitive and reignite our culture. Accelerated change is the only option," said M&S.
Shares in M&S have fallen 26% over the last year and the firm is in danger of being booted out of the FTSE 100 index.
The stock closed yesterday at 292 pence, valuing the business at £4.7bn.
