Marks & Spencer has announced annual sales of £10.6 billion with clothing and homewares down 5.9% in the first three months of 2017. Underlying sales in food were also down by 2.1%. The pre-tax profit before one-off items were still £614 m, but once pay and pension charges and store closure costs are taken into account, the statutory pre-tax profit falls to £176m, down 63.5% on the previous year. With a recently appointed chairman, and a new fashion executive (see article below), share price has risen and some commentators seem hopeful. The recently unveiled autumn/winter collection has been described as appealing more to "middle England" shoppers with fewer "showstopper" items.