DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair 4240.SE said on Wednesday its franchise agreement in the kingdom with British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) had ended, along with similar deals with a number of “non-performing” brands. Marks & Spencer (M&S) said in an email that its franchised stores in Saudi Arabia were transferred to Al-Futtaim Group in 2018. M&S has 15 franchised stores in Saudi Arabia. “We are focused on continuing to work with Al-Futtaim Group to develop and grow our business in Saudi Arabia,” M&S told Reuters. M&S still has a partnership with Alhokair in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan, according to M&S’s website. M&S has more than 400 stores outside the United Kingdom, where it is a mainstay of shopping streets with more than 1,000 outlets. Its international business has been struggling, however, with revenues falling 14% and underlying operating profit down 6% in the year ended March 30, 2019. Alhokair also said on Wednesday it made a first-quarter net profit of 224 million riyals ($60 million), down 10.1% from the same period a year earlier. The firm, which owns franchise rights for brands including Mango, Zara and Banana Republic in the Middle East, said a decline in sales during the quarter was driven by the closure of non-performing stores and the disposal of weak brands as the group presses ahead with a “portfolio optimization strategy.”

UAE-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim is reportedly in talks with UK retail giant Marks & Spencer for the possible purchase and franchising of its business in Hong Kong and Macau. The UK's Financial Times said the talks could see Al-Futtaim become the sole franchisee for M&S in Hong Kong and Macau, adding that M&S has operated in Hong Kong since 1988 and has 27 stores in the city. Al-Futtaim has worked with M&S since it opened the British retailer’s first store in Dubai in 1998. The deal covers only the company’s retail business and its Hong Kong sourcing operations will remain wholly-owned, the FT added.

British retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) said on Monday it plans to open a number of new stores across the Middle East over the next few years. The company confirmed its commitment to the region as it announced plans to enter the Jordanian market for the first time. M&S said in a statement that it will open a new store at TAJ Lifestyle in Amman next month. It did not give further details of its expansion plans in the region. The iconic British brand, which was established in 1884, already has a strong presence in the Middle East, which is one of its priority International markets, with 18 stores in the region through its partnership with franchisee Al-Futtaim Group. Jan Heere, Marks & Spencer's director of International, said: "We're delighted to be opening our first store in Jordan in December. "Our new store in Amman will be the first of many new M&S stores planned for the Middle East over the next few years and will feature our latest womenswear, lingerie and beauty products." M&S last year said it planned to speed up its international expansion in a bid to offset domestic competition with revenue from fast-growing emerging markets. Former chief executive Mark Bolland said in February 2011 that he planned to transform M&S “from a UK multi-channel retailer to an international multi-channel retailer” by 2015. M&S has more than 350 stores in 42 overseas territories. Earlier this month, the high street retailer said that UK like-for-like sales during the three months to the end of September were level with last year. The quarterly sales growth of the food division was 1.6 percent while sales in the general merchandise business dropped 1.8 percent. For the first half of the year as a whole, sales were down 1.4 percent because of a weak first quarter.