BUZZ-Marks and Spencer: shares hit after star analyst downgrades

** British retailer Marks and Spencer Group falls 3.3%, one of the top FTSE 100 losers, after Investec downgrades to "hold" from "buy" ahead of Q1 trading update on July 7

** Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) rated at five stars for recommendation accuracy on M&S, per StarMine

** Broker cites uncertainty over medium-term demand, forecasts 2 years of profit decline (after well documented tough YTD for clothing sector, e.g. Debenhams (Other OTC: DBHSF - news) said June 22 industry sales -4% over last 12 weeks, similar period to M&S Q1)

** FY18e PBT cut by 10% to reflect currency c.$1.35 (& weaker demand); FY17 mostly hedged, so recent currency moves are expected to impact FY18

** Slashes M&S TP to 315p from 460p

** Broker says too early to quantify the future profit impact of Brexit from a slower demand perspective

** Sell-side split: 11 of 29 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 8 "hold" and 10 "sell" or lower; median TP is 395p

** Up to Friday's close, stock had fallen 28.4 pct vs a 18.6 pct decline in the FTSE 350 General Retailers Index

(Reuters Messaging: pranav.kiran@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)