Marks & Spencer is expected to unveil another rise in food sales in its first-quarter trading update later this week.

Sales of food at the high street icon have reportedly risen by 1.5% over the past three months. In May the retailer announced its first rise in food sales for two years with an increase of 0.3%.

The latest performance will be a boost for incoming chief executive Marc Bolland as he prepares to take the reins from Sir Stuart Rose later this month.

Nomura analyst Fraser Ramzan told the Daily Telegraph: "The reason for our continued optimism on M&S is that the group continues to improve its market share and trading position and expectations are muted."

However, M&S is expected to face criticism from investors at its upcoming AGM over the pay awarded to Bolland, which is regarded as excessive by some investors.

Read more
Rose hails M&S ‘resilience’ as annual profits climb (25 May 2010)
Pennycook fails to quell M&S move speculation (8 May 2010)
Food sales up at ‘better value’ M&S (8 April 2010)