Marks & Spencer has unveiled another year of falling profits, just a day after the high street giant outlined plans to close more than 100 stores by 2022.
The retailer reported a 62.1pc fall in pre-tax profit to £66.8m in the year to March 31 as it was dragged down by £321.1m in costs linked to a store closure programme.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said: "At our half-year results in November I outlined the need for accelerated change at M&S.
"The first phase of our transformation plan, restoring the basics, is now well under way and the actions taken have increased the velocity of change running through our business.
"These changes come with short-term costs which are reflected in today's results."
The retailer's troubled clothing arm saw like-for-like sales fall by 1.9pc in the year. Comparable food sales were down 0.3pc. Revenue nudged up 0.7pc to £10.7bn.
On an adjusted basis, with costs stripped out, pre-tax profit fell 5.4pc to £580.9m.
"There are a number of structural issues to address and we are taking steps towards fixing these," Mr Rowe added.
"The new organisation will largely be in place by July and the team is now tackling transforming our culture to make M&S a faster, lower cost, more commercial, more digital business.
"This is vital as we start to leverage the strength of the M&S brand and values across a family of businesses to deliver sustainable, profitable growth in three to five years."
The results come a day after M&S said it is to close more than 100 stores by 2022 as it accelerates a transformation programme that will see thousands of jobs put at risk.
The closures will affect its clothing and home stores, which have underperformed for years.
M&S named 14 stores earmarked for closure in 2018-19, including in London's Bayswater and Holloway Road, with a total of 872 employees affected.
The move is part of a five-year turnaround plan spearheaded by chairman Archie Norman and Mr Rowe.
They have been seeking to save costs through store closures and shutting distribution centres as part of a wide-ranging efficiency drive as the company's financial performance deteriorates.
M&S has 1,035 stores in the UK, of which 300 have space dedicated to clothing.
David Gill, national officer for shopworkers' union Usdaw, said: "This salami-slicing approach to reorganising the business is extremely distressing for the staff."
"Usdaw has thousands of members working for Marks & Spencer and the staff now need, more than ever, the representation and support of an independent trade union.
"It is simply unfair that [M&S] continue to refuse their staff access to Usdaw, having made the decision on their behalf not to engage with a trade union."
It has been a difficult week for the retail sector, as Tesco announced on Tuesday that it was closing its non-food website Tesco Direct, putting around 500 jobs at risk.
The e-commerce website, which sells clothing, homewares and electricals, was launched in 2006 as the supermarket giant’s attempt to take on Amazon and Argos. But Tesco said that "despite its best efforts, there is no route to profitability for this small, loss-making part of the business".