By Carlo Martuscelli

Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) said Tuesday that it has appointed former J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) Chief Executive Justin King to its board as a nonexecutive director.

The retailer said the appointment is effective from January. Mr. King previously worked at Marks & Spencer and helped pioneer its Simply Food convenience chain.

The appointment comes as the company seeks to address the 2.9% decline in like-for-like food sales it reported in November for its first half, overshadowing a beat on overall pretax profit, hurting the share price and contributing to S&P Global Ratings revising its outlook to negative from stable.

Marks & Spencer said Mr. King brings in-depth experience of retail transformation and a good historic understanding of the business and its values.

"Justin's appointment is a further step in the creation of a very strong transformation board for M&S and is the fourth new hire in the last year," Marks & Spencer said.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 11, 2018 07:04 ET (12:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Marks And Spencer (LSE:MKS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024 Click Here for more Marks And Spencer Charts.
Marks And Spencer (LSE:MKS)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024 Click Here for more Marks And Spencer Charts.