Marks & Spencer has said that its womenswear division was showing “clear signs of improvement”, outperforming clothing in general in the fourth quarter.

In the 13 weeks to 29th March, group sales rose 1.9%, with a 2.5% rise in food sales and a 0.2% rise in general merchandise.

Marc Bolland, chief executive said: “We delivered another quarter of improvement in General Merchandise. Clothing sales were up 1.3% in total, up 0.6% on a like-for-like basis. We are encouraged by Womenswear, which is showing clear signs of improvement and performed ahead of Clothing.

“Our Food business had another great quarter, especially considering the later timing of Easter. This marks our 18th consecutive quarter of growth. We continued to outperform the market with record sales around key events including Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.”