Revitalised Ranges Suit M&S

Aiming to convince the City that it addressing the problems that hit womenswear sales in the run-up to Christmas, M&S hosted a visit to it flagship Marble Arch store in London, to show how its revitalised spring and summer ranges are translating in to sales.

The boys from the banks were largely convinced, with M&S's share price closing the week up 9p to 278.75p.The main question mark was over price, with some questioning whether an average 3.5 per cent drop in womenswear prices will be enough in the face of fierce discounting on the high street.

There was evidence that M&S shares the concerns, with the Daily Telegraph reporting that analysts saw evidence that prices on some spring/summer womenswear lines by more than it intended when the range was launched in November. Some price tags had been removed and replaced with lower prices printed manually with a price gun.

Tony Shiret, analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, said in a research note: "Our view of this morning's visit is that M&S will be able to show it has changed its presentation to address some of the criticisms of the autumn/winter 2003 ranges, but we have found signs of early season demand weakness that suggest that there is an increased threat to profit forecasts."