Marks & Spencer (M&S) announced a £1 billion share buyback today as it unveiled a forecast-beating set of half-year results.
The retailer's profit before tax rose 11.5 per cent to £451.8 million in the 26 weeks to September 29th, slightly ahead of analysts' expectations.
Shares in Britain's largest clothing retailer by sales traded 1 per cent higher in opening trade, outperforming a 0.4 per cent fall in the DJ Stoxx index of European retailers.
M&S, one of the British high street's best known brands, said it would also be spending as much as £1.1 billion this year and next on developing the group. Its interim dividend rose 31.7 per cent to 8.3 pence per share.