London, Nov 4 - Marks & Spencer Plc, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, posted a 34 percent drop in first-half profit on Tuesday, hit by a deepening consumer downturn and self-confessed mistakes at its food business.
The 124-year-old group reported a profit before tax and one-off items of 297.8 million pounds for the six months to Sept. 27.
This compares with a forecast range of 280 million pounds to 295 million and a consensus of 290 million provided by the company, based on a poll of 13 analysts, and was down from 451.8 million in the same period last year.
The interim dividend was maintained at 8.3 pence.