M&S to open up to 50 stores in India

The new stores would be in addition to the existing 14 franchise stores operated by M&S in the country, the company said while announcing its annual results here.

M&S announced last month an an agreement with Reliance Retail, part of Reliance Industries Group in India, to take a 51 per cent interest in Marks and Spencer Reliance India Pvt Ltd.

 

"In addition to the existing 14 franchise stores we already operate in India, we plan to open 30-50 new stores within the next five years," M&S said. The company said the store opening plan is "an important step towards achieving our goal of establishing M&S as a major retail brand in India."

Reliance Industries said in its annual report for the year 2007-08 that it would look at roping in more international partners in its retail business, on top of the joint ventures already announced for various store formats. Besides M&S, RIL has announced business tie-ups with companies like Office Depot and Nova Chemicals of the US.

Announcing its preliminary results for the year ended March 2008, M&S said its international profits rose 33 per cent and it added 20 per cent space during the year in international locations.

The company made investments in Central and Eastern Europe and India during the year, it noted. In comparison, its UK profit rose by only 1.7 per cent.

Its full-year overall sales rose 5.1 per cent to over nine billion pounds, primarily driven by a growth of 16.8 per cent in international markets. The UK sales rose by only 4.2 per cent.