Marks & Spencer reports drop in sales

LONDON • Marks & Spencer Group reported a fresh drop in quarterly clothing revenue and missed estimates for food sales, dealing a blow to chief executive Steve Rowe as he seeks to revive the British retail bellwether.

Same-store sales in the clothing and home division fell 1.2 per cent in the 13 weeks ended July 1, M&S said yesterday, having slumped by almost 9 per cent in the comparable period a year ago.

The results add to proof that British consumers are tightening their purse strings amid a squeeze on disposable incomes that has affected sales.

The shares dropped 1.2 per cent to 334.8 pence at 8.32am in London, extending a near 6 per cent decline in the month leading up to the announcement.

BLOOMBERG

Fed could raise rates again: Top banker

SYDNEY • A top US central banker yesterday said he still expected one more rise in interest rates from the Federal Reserve this year and for it to start unwinding its massive balance sheet in the next few months.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank president John Williams said he believed a recent softening in US inflation was transitory and that inflation would pick up to around 2 per cent over the coming year.

He emphasised that if inflation did not accelerate as expected, it would make an argument for a much slower pace of rate rises than projected.

REUTERS