M&S staff will share a bonus pot of £80m – the first full bonus in more than three years.

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has joined a growing list of retailers to emerge from the recession with a strong annual performance, with its staff set to benefit from a bonus pot estimated at around £80 million.

M&S revealed a rise in group sales for its fourth quarter of 4.8%, with its M&S Direct arm seeing an astonishing 48% rise in sales for the three months to 27 March 2010. International sales was the only area to show a dip with the retailer blaming a particularly difficult trading period in the Republic of Ireland and Greece, together with a poor currency exchange.

Last month staff at the John Lewis Partnership celebrated news that they would be receiving on average around eight weeks’ salary in the form of an annual bonus as the retailing giant announced news of an increase in group operating profit of more than 20% compared to 2008.

Outgoing Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose handed his 50,000 shop assistants a bonus of up to £500 each as a thank you for their hard work as he gets ready to bid farewell to the Group later this year.

The £80m bonus pot, which will be shared by all staff, is the first full bonus for three years.

Sir Stuart commented on the quarterly results: “These are strong [...] by any measure. They demonstrate the appeal of the M&S brand to our 21 million weekly customers and its resilience in these difficult times.

“The continuing improvement in our performance is the result of the actions we have taken to invest in our stores, service, product and values. In clothing we have seen a substantial increase in market share and in food we have had six consecutive quarters of improving like-for-like performance.”

Annual profit before tax for the 52 weeks to 27 March 2010 is expected to be between £620m and £630m.

Shares in the company had suffered a drop in the past few days as analysts predicted a gloomy set of results, but news of a rise in sales has given the group a welcome boost on the London Stock Exchange.