Marks and Spencer shares fell at market open on Wednesday morning, after the company’s pre-tax profit sunk over 5 percent to £219 million in the six months to September.

A further drop in clothing sales led the profit plunge, with the company vowing to speed up the closure of its underperforming clothing departments. The weak figures also led CEO Steve Rowe to announce a slowdown in the opening of its Simply Food stores, with planned openings cut from 80 to 90 in 2018.

We have made good progress in remedying the immediate and burning issues at M&S,” said chief executive Steve Rowe.

“The business still has many structural issues to tackle … in the context of a very challenging retail and consumer environment. Today we are accelerating our plans to build a business with sustainable, profitable growth, making M&S special again.”

Other figures released by the group on Wednesday were more positive, with group revenue for the six months to 30 September grew 2.6 per cent to £5.1 billion. Earnings per share jumped to 5.2p from 1p last year, while the interim dividend was kept flat at 6.8p.

Shares in Marks and Spencers moved upwards after their initial plunge, currently trading up 0.82 percent at 330.50 (1020GMT).