LONDON: British retailer Marks & Spencer said it could start returning excess cash to shareholders on a regular basis as a more efficient supply chain boosts profitability and in-store clothing sales pick up following three years of decline.

But the company’s shares fell as much as 3.8 percent after it warned that a new website would take four to six months to “settle in,” affecting the performance of its general merchandise business in the three months to the end of June.

“Nothing’s gone wrong,” said Chief Financial Officer Alan Stewart when asked about the website, a pillar of M&S’s intended transformation into an international retailer reaching customers through stores, the web and mobile devices.

M&S is trying to shake off criticism that its clothes are dowdy, with its new strategy focusing on higher quality and more fashionable styles that satisfy its core customers aged 45 and over while also appealing to younger shoppers.

Chief Executive Marc Bolland has spent 2.3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in the last three years to push through the changes and address decades of under-investment.