Hello, everybody. It's Archie Norman here, and welcome to the M&S 2024 results. You know, one of the things I've found over the years is that, for some reason, whatever results we produce at M&S, people find them surprising. In recent years, surprising in a good way, or at least I would like to think so. Our ambition is not to be boring. I don't think we'll ever quite achieve that, but it is to produce consistent growth in sales and market share, in profit and shareholder returns. What you see in this set of results, under a very strong leadership team, is a good performance, which is the outcome of the management team doing what they said they would do in reshaping M&S. So I'm not gonna say any more.
I'm gonna hand you over to Stuart, who's going to talk about the performance from a shop somewhere, as you would expect. And then Jeremy will go through the financial results, probably not from a shop. Stuart will sum up, and then there'll be lots of time for questions and discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Archie. Well, good morning, everyone, from our store in Lakeside, Thurrock, one of our 104 bigger, better, fresher renewal stores. If you're watching on the May 22nd, there is a conference call for analysts and investors at 9:30 A.M., when we will be available to answer your questions. There are three parts to today's presentation. First, an update from me on this year's performance highlights. Jeremy will then walk you through the financials in detail. And finally, I will share where we've made progress and where the opportunities remain in the year ahead and beyond. Then I will close with our outlook for the year. So it's been a good year of progress, progress against our strategic priorities, which we set out at our Capital Markets Day.
Our strategy to reshape M&S has delivered growth in sales, market share, margins, return on capital, and free cashflow. Profit before tax and adjusting items was GBP 716.4 million, an increase of 58%. In food, sales increased 13%. This was driven by volume growth, which outperformed all of our grocery peers, attracting a record number of customers, including more family shoppers. Operating margin improved to 4.8% from 3.4%, supported by structural cost reduction in stores and benefits from the Gist acquisition completed last year. In Clothing & Home, sales increased 5.3%, with full price market share up 80 basis points, driven by womenswear. Clothing & Home is also attracting new customers, particularly online, which outperformed the market and grew faster than stores in the second half.
Operating margin increased to 10.3% from 8.7%, supported by structural cost reduction in the logistics network and increased full price sales. Both businesses have now delivered 12 consecutive quarters of sales growth, and this trading momentum gives us the confidence that the plan is working. Higher profits and disciplined investment choices are translating into increased return on capital employed. We've generated strong paybacks on store rotation, on store renewal, and on the Gist acquisition, all well ahead of our hurdle rates. As a result, we've increased free cashflow and strengthened the balance sheet, and we are in a positive net funds position. The financial health of M&S is the best it's been in decades, and this will enable us to step up investment this financial year while restoring a total dividend of GBP 0.03 per share.
Lots done, but we remain positively dissatisfied, as there is so much more to do and so much opportunity ahead of us. I will talk about this later in the presentation. I will now hand over to Jeremy to talk you through the financial detail.
Thanks, Stuart, and good morning. I'll start with the group headlines, which highlight another year of strong performance as we reshape M&S for growth. Group sales were GBP 13.1 billion, up 9% on last year, with profit before tax and adjusting items of GBP 716.4 million. I note that during the year, we chose to recognize GBP 24 million of pension income in adjusting items, which had previously been reported within profit before tax. Prior year figures have been restated to reflect this change. Continued focus on strengthening the balance sheet delivered over GBP 400 million of free cashflow from operations during the year, which has, in turn, reduced net debt. At the end of the year, we were debt-free, excluding lease liabilities.... I'll now take you through the results in more detail by business area.
The food business generated double-digit sales growth, underpinned by strong innovation and broadening customer appeal. Volumes grew by 5% on the year as customer numbers, particularly those completing larger shops, increased. Food adjusted operating margin improved 1.4 percentage points, driven by an improvement in gross profit and operating cost efficiencies. Gross margin increased 0.7 percentage points as we continued investment in trusted value, funded by the lowering cost program. During the year, we benchmarked and re-tendered contracts and reduced promotional participation. Operating costs as a percentage of sales decreased 0.7 percentage points as sales growth of 13% exceeded cost growth of 9.9%. Store staffing costs decreased 0.3 percentage points, with colleague pay increases partly offset by structural cost savings. Other store costs were level, as sales leverage was offset by energy inflation headwinds.
Distribution and warehousing costs decreased 0.2 percentage points, with the effects of inflation and volume growth offset by benefits from the acquisition of Gist. Central costs decreased 0.2 percentage points, as sales leverage was partly offset by technology investments and colleague costs. In Clothing & Home, sales grew by over 5% as we bought deeper into key lines, reduced promotions, and improved stock flow, whilst improving product design and customer appeal. Sales mix by channel moved in the year, with stronger online growth in the second half, and with active customers, frequency, number of transactions, and average basket value all growing year on year.
Clothing & Home adjusted operating margin improved by 1.6 percentage points, with gross margin up 1.5 percentage points, as buying headwinds, including currency, were more than offset by the annualization of pricing action and increased full price sales. Operating costs as a percentage of sales decreased 0.1 percentage points, as cost growth of 5.1% was marginally lower than the 5.3% growth in sales. Store staffing costs increased 0.3 percentage points, driven by investment in service and colleague pay increases, partly offset by structural cost savings. Other store costs decreased 0.7 percentage points, with structural cost reductions and one-off savings more than offsetting inflationary headwinds. Distribution and warehousing costs decreased 0.5 percentage points, as the effects of inflation were offset by structural cost savings and efficiencies.
Central costs increased 0.8 percentage points, driven by an increase in technology investment and higher colleague costs. Moving now to international. International sales, excluding Republic of Ireland, declined by 1%. As a result of the weaker sales and action taken to reduce stock levels in India, operating profits declined to GBP 47.7 million, down 30% versus last year. Republic of Ireland performance improved in the year, with sales growing 2%. Supply chain efficiencies helped drive an improved operating profit performance to GBP 27.9 million, up 65% versus last year. I note that from 2024/2025, the results of the Republic of Ireland will be reported as part of a new UK and ROI segment within both food and Clothing & Home.
As set out at the Capital Markets Day in October 2022, our objective was to permanently remove GBP 400 million of costs by 2027/2028. One year into the program, GBP 180 million of costs have been removed, predominantly in retail and logistics. Given this momentum and continued inflationary cost pressures, we have increased our savings objective from GBP 400 million to GBP 500 million by 2027/2028. The group profit bridge shows the year-on-year profit before tax movement, driven by food and Clothing & Home, partly offset by international. While sales growth accelerated in Ocado, driven by increased choice of M&S products, profitability remains well below our original expectations. Our loss in the year was GBP 67 million, of which GBP 37.2 million was taken in adjusted profit before tax and the balance in adjusting items.
The contribution from M&S Bank was largely driven by a provision release following the exit of M&S Energy in 2023. A decrease in net debt reduced interest costs in the year. Adjusting items include the store estate program, M&S's share of costs relating to the ceasing of operations at Ocado Retail's Hatfield CFC and the release of the Ocado contingent consideration, as announced at the half year. Overall, the group generated GBP 414 million of free cash flow from operations in the year, a year-on-year improvement of GBP 243 million. This was driven by higher operating profit across food and Clothing & Home, working capital inflows, and reduced interest expense. Cash inflow from working capital was driven by a higher year-end payables balance, mainly due to the timing of Easter.
Net capital expenditure increased with the focus on investment in the group's strategic areas of store rotation, supply chain, and data, digital, and technology, which I'll talk about further in a moment. Ocado Retail drew down an additional GBP 30 million on its shareholder loan facility in the year, and increased taxation was principally due to the increased profit in the year. The change in net debt was predominantly driven by free cash flow from operations and a decrease in lease debt. As I mentioned in my introduction, at the year-end, we were debt-free, excluding lease liabilities, a reduction of over GBP 1.4 billion over the last four years. At the Capital Markets Day in November 2023, we set out our minimum hurdle rates on capital investments.
To date, all areas of investment across new stores, store renewals, and M&A are performing ahead of expectations, and as a result of profit growth and return on our investments, ROCE has improved to over 14%. As a result, we are increasing our capital envelope to GBP 500 million net of disposals, with approximately GBP 300 million ring-fenced for store investment. And so to summarize, during the year, there has been sustained trading momentum, driven through growth of new customers, strong like-for-like sales, and store rotation returns. The structural cost program exceeded its objective of GBP 150 million pound savings in year one, and therefore, we have chosen to increase the overall program objective from GBP 400 million- GBP 500 million by 2027, 2028, to further fund value and quality improvements and offset cost inflation.
We remain committed to our focus in delivering sustainable and consistent free cashflow to deliver balance sheet capacity, fund investment in the reshaping M&S strategy, as well as to pay a nominal dividend. Taking all of this into account, we expect to make further progress this financial year, which Stuart will talk about later in more detail. I'll now hand you back over to Stuart.
Thank you, Jeremy. M&S Food is gaining new customers and broadening its appeal. Value market share increased 15 basis points and volume share, 20 basis points. We generated record customer numbers with growth across all customer demographics, led by families. This growth is a result of the long-term changes we've been making in our food business, investing in everyday value, with promotions now halved from what they were just a few years ago, upgrading and innovating a third of our range, investing in our new food renewal format, bigger, better, fresher style food stores, increasing share of everyday products and larger baskets. Let me give you a few highlights from last year. Our Remarksable Value range had sales growth of 34%. We dropped and locked a further 90 products, building trust in M&S value in a very highly promotional market.
1,300 lines were new, with a focus on basket-building products, biscuits, hot beverages, for example, and we developed new ranges like high protein and gut health. This year, we've planned further value and quality investment. This includes the recent Cook Menu dining, the perfect solution for midweek meals, and we will continue to put exceptional quality food products at the heart of everything we do. Food store rotation and our renewal program is on track, with larger, new store openings providing us with future growth opportunities. Last year, we opened 14 new locations and eight food renewal stores, all with very strong paybacks. In the year ahead, we have 9 new locations and around 25 new store food renewals. The food supply chain program is critical, as this underpins the future growth and margin potential.
This includes longer term supply commitments, joint business plans with our partners, the Gist acquisition, which has delivered almost GBP 70 million of savings this year and will see us take a new step in building new DC capacity as part of our longer term investment plan, completing the rollout of a new forecast and ordering system, which will help improve availability and reduce our waste. And finally, a new store operations program that we call the One Best Way... This helps us deliver better customer availability, better service in our food stores, and helps improve productivity. So in summary, in our food business, we're on track, and we've made good progress, but now we need to get ahead of the growth curve to continue to maximize the opportunity and to continue the momentum.
The improved performance of Clothing & Home has been driven by better, more stylish product, underpinned by the adoption of a new trading model. Although there's much progress, there's also so much more opportunity. Changes to date have been built around reducing range complexity with fewer SKUs, buying bolder and deeper, shifting to trusted value with full price sales mix increasing from 63% to now 81% of sales, improving stock flow with historically low levels of cover. Let me just take you through some of the highlights of last year. It was a robust performance in core product categories such as denim, knitwear, lingerie, as well as Men's Autograph and the Holiday Shop. As a result, market share increased 40 basis points, with style perceptions continuing to improve, and our lead on quality and value perception was extended. As I said, there are opportunities.
This includes core home, following our decision to exit our bulky two-person furniture business, so we can increase our focus on product areas such as bedding, bath, and kitchen. Also, capturing all the opportunities outlined at our Capital Markets Day last year, like women's occasion wear, men's outerwear, and kids' daywear. Store performance was robust. Sales were up 4%, and store rotation generated strong returns. These stores are attracting new customers, with relocations delivering 50% sales growth, despite trading from similar space in the older stores. Payback in these stores are around two years. We are planning for up to four new full-line stores this year and implementing a refreshed Clothing & Home renewal format. The opportunity still remains to find new sites and accelerate our store rotation and renewal program. Clothing & Home online sales increased 7.8%.
Performance accelerated in the second half as we implemented more effective marketing, particularly in womenswear. Structural cost reduction in logistics and improved delivery service helped drive and deliver a higher operating margin of 8.2%, compared to 5% last year. Our focus in the year ahead has to be online and the online and the app experience. This will include some systems changes to support the partner brands strategy. Underpinning all of this is the work we also need to do on our end-to-end supply chain. In sourcing, consolidating denim, knitwear, and lingerie across fewer suppliers and mills. Across UK logistics, investing in capacity and automation to drive growth planned for this year. Investment in the new planning platform, which starts this year, which will provide end-to-end visibility of stock, facing into some of the availability challenges we have today.
In summary, across our Clothing & Home and Beauty business, lots has been done, but there's so much opportunity ahead. International had a disappointing year. Sales were down in the second half. We had lower profits, as we needed to take action on high-level stock inventory, particularly in India. Our objective remains the same, driving international growth by leveraging the UK business and the M&S brand through capital light franchise partnerships. We see substantial opportunities to create a truly global M&S, and we expect to update you on our plans at our Capital Markets Day this autumn. Results for Ocado Retail are reported by Ocado Group, and therefore, are not consolidated in these results. I wanted to give you a brief update.
Ocado is in the early stages of driving sales growth, which improved during the year, driven by increased choice of M&S products and overall better value for money. There are now 4,800 M&S food products listed on Ocado, which is 20% up on last year. Although availability of M&S products has improved, there is so much more to do. Ocado's price inflation was less than the market, driven by improved value for money, especially on M&S products, but also with the big price drop campaign. In fact, sales of M&S grew 15% in quarter four, which was ahead of Ocado Retail sales and represented 30% of the basket. While the sales improvement is encouraging, profitability remains below original expectations. There is a lot of scope to improve Ocado's delivery service and customer online experience.
The new Luton CFC delivered a rapid ramp-up in operations as the business transferred from Hatfield. Although capacity fees for Hatfield are continuing, and we do not expect Ocado Retail to reap the full financial benefit of transferring to the new site. Ocado Retail still operates on legacy technology for its website, delivery, and supply chain. Over the next 18 months, it will be migrating to Ocado's new technology, the Ocado Smart Platform, a solution which will offer customers increased convenience and greater personalization. I will close with outlook for the current financial year and my thoughts on the challenges and the opportunities as we look forward. In terms of outlook this year, our focus will remain on growing volume and market share across both of our businesses, delivering the M&S magic to our customers through exceptional quality products, value, service, and the M&S innovation. There will be some headwinds.
Our cost inflation remains elevated, and we are planning for structural cost reductions and other efficiencies to offset this. But given our increased confidence and our track record over the last two years in delivering growth, we are planning to make further progress in performance this year and beyond. More broadly, in terms of strategic delivery, as you can see, lots has been achieved. We've had a good year, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our colleagues for their hard work and their contribution, and also to all of our customers who have shopped with M&S this year. Expectations don't stand still, and we as a team are always aiming higher.
The job requires the continuation of the soft wiring cultural change, meaning as colleagues, we are all sleeves rolled up, where M&S comes first, a culture where we're closer to customers and closer to colleagues. The hard wiring sustainable change is just as important, in particular, where progress has been slow, building our data and digital and technology infrastructure, improving our loyalty program, and moving to a more personalized customer experience, and of course, resetting and reprioritizing our plans in our international business. We have a clear vision for the future, a strong team in place, and there is so much opportunity ahead of us. I think we are at the beginnings of a new M&S.