M&S reports 35 percent rise in India sales

British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has registered 35 percent rise in its sales in India during the half year period ended September 2014, on the back of strong performance witnessed by all its segments. M&S operates stores in a joint venture partnership with Reliance Retail.

During the six months period ended September, 2014, M&S's menswear sales were up 46 percent over same period last year. Its lingerie and beauty segment sales increased by 30 percent compared to sales in the previous year. At the global level, the company reported marginal increase of 1 percent in group sales and 1.2 percent increase in international sales in the half year period ended September 2014.

The company has announced plans of doubling its store count in India to 80 by 2016. It will open 40 new stores during this period. It currently has 42 stores across the country. The high street retailer intends to open 250 new stores outside the UK in the next three years as part of its global expansion plans, which also include Western Europe and the Middle East in a bid to pursue its plan of growing its international sales by 25 percent and profits by 40 percent.