London - Britain's Marks & Spencer (M&S) retail chain Tuesday reported annual profits of just over 1 billion pounds (2 billion dollars) despite a fall in sales in the first three months of this year, the company said. Profits up to the end of March 2008 were the largest for M&S in a decade, but were accompanied by a 1.7-per-cent drop in like-for- like sales in the first quarter of 2008.
It followed a similar fall in sales in the months up to Christmas, and reflect a general slowdown in consumer spending in Britain.
M&S chief executive Stuart Rose, who has led an expansion drive abroad, especially in Asia, said he expected market conditions "to remain difficult for the foreseeable future."
