MKS.L - Marks and Spencer Group plc
| Previous close | 187.05 |
| Open | 188.00 |
| Bid | 188.20 x 0 |
| Ask | 188.30 x 0 |
| Day's range | 186.20 - 189.60 |
| 52-week range | 161.35 - 306.20 |
| Volume | 4,059,091 |
| Avg. volume | 10,714,224 |
| Market cap | 3.662B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 0.83 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 37.56 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.00 |
| Earnings date | 06 Nov 2019 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 0.11 (5.88%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 14 Nov 2019 |
| 1y target est | 294.84 |
- Fool.co.uk
Why I’d prefer the Tesco share price over Marks & Spencer in 2020
It’s cheaper, but I think there’s more to consider here The post Why I’d prefer the Tesco share price over Marks & Spencer in 2020 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Investing.com
Breaking: U.K. Retail Sales Disappoint; Sterling Weakens
U.K. retail sales disappointed again in December dropping 0.6%, adding further force to arguments for an interest rate cut from the Bank of England at the end of the month.
- Yahoo Finance UK
Boohoo now worth more than Marks & Spencer after bumper Christmas
Sales at Boohoo, the online fashion retailer which owns Karen Millen and Coast, rose by 44% over Christmas.
- Fool.co.uk
This growth stock crashed 20% today! Here’s what I’d do now
This firm was previously a strong performer in a difficult market. Is this one-off problem a buying opportunity?
- Bloomberg
Horrid Holidays Can't All Be Blamed on Brexit
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Christmas 2019 should be consigned to the dustbin along with the crumpled wrapping paper and the wilted tree. That’s the message that has come in loud and clear from British retailers. And it caps off a miserable year. Total sales for 2019 fell by 0.1%, the worst year on record, according to the British Retail Consortium and KPMG.There’s no doubt consumers were cautious in the run-up to the holidays. But store groups can’t blame it all on Brexit. There were some own goals, too.Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc missed the halo effect from Black Friday by reining in promotions right as shoppers sought deals during the U.S-imported retail frenzy. Marks & Spencer Group Plc also hasn’t participated for the past few years. While it’s the right instinct to protect against diluting margins ahead of the holiday season, going too far to do so is painful too.John Lewis Partnership Plc warned that its profit would be “significantly lower” than a year ago, and parted company with the head of its department-store arm, Paula Nickolds. It’s hard not to think the privately held company’s challenges have been made worse by some of its own decisions, such as blindly sticking to its pledge to always be cheaper than rivals. Times have changed since the promise was made many years ago, and it’s become untenable in a market characterized by intense and constant discounting.But perhaps the performance by M&S is the most disappointing. After seeing some positive signs in women’s wear, it made a fashion faux pas in men’s clothing by getting too trendy for many of its customers. Its range of more contemporary, slim fitting shirts and suits weren’t on trend with its predominantly older shopper base, and it simply stocked too many small sizes than was reasonable.The high street stalwart also didn’t have the right Christmas gifts, having gone down market just as consumers were seeking more expensive items, such as cashmere sweaters, and more experiential gifts such as spa days. Consequently, M&S’s like-for-like sales in clothing and home furnishings fell 1.7% in the third quarter, worse than the consensus of analysts’ expectations for a 0.8% decline.The performance is particularly disappointing given that many of M&S’s key competitors, including Debenhams Plc, John Lewis department stores, Mike Ashley’s House of Fraser and Philip Green’s Arcadia, are not firing on all cylinders. And the self-inflicted damage wasn’t confined to clothing. Although demand for M&S’s Christmas food was strong, it wasn’t as pronounced as it had hoped. It misread the market, buying too much festive fare to make sure it had enough available and wound up with far too many leftovers once the holidays came to an end. Consequently, gross margins are expected to be at the lower end of expectations.The shares fell as much as 11.6%. It isn’t the first time M&S has messed up at Christmas. In the past, it suffered from problems at a key distribution center at Castle Donington in central England. This year that facility held up, but the new round of blunders is worrying. In contrast, other groups that have been operating quietly without hiccups, such as Tesco Plc, Greggs Plc and discount home-furnishings retailer Dunelm Group Plc, delivered solid performances. It will also be worth watching out for Associated British Foods Plc, which should have benefited from Primark’s strong selection of gifts and party dresses in the run up to the holiday.With any Boris bounce after the U.K. election proving elusive, 2020 is set to remain tough. The lesson from this Christmas trading season is that to prosper, retailers need to stick to their knitting, and ensure that their own actions don’t make an already difficult backdrop even worse.To contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Fool.co.uk
Here’s a FTSE 250 Christmas sales winner I’d buy, and a loser I’d avoid
The festive season has been disappointing for one of these two mid-cap stocks, but very healthy for the other.
- Bloomberg
M&S Plunge Provides Reality Check After Stock’s False Dawn
(Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.Thursday’s tumble in Marks & Spencer Group Plc shares served as a reminder that the U.K. retailer needs to show more improvement in its turnaround to justify a flurry of analyst upgrades in recent months.The stock fell as much as 12%, the most since February 2019, and was the worst performer in the FTSE 350 General Retailers Index after holiday sales at its long-struggling clothing & home unit came in weaker than consensus estimates and the company pointed to gross margins around the lower end of its guidance.The slump comes hot on the heels of the stock’s best quarterly performance in five years. M&S shares jumped 16% in the last three months of 2019 after at least five analysts raised their recommendations following first-half earnings that showed improved clothing sales in October. The prospect of a brighter outlook for U.K. consumers after the Conservative Party’s election win in December also helped boost sentiment.Yet the stock still ended 2019 with a decline of 9.7%, a fifth straight annual drop that has reduced the company’s market value by more than half and seen M&S demoted from the FTSE 100 Index for the first time.“Today’s update is a reminder that bottom-up challenges may water down the benefit from an increasingly positive macro picture,” said James Grzinic, a Jefferies analyst with a hold rating on the shares.To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Pham in London at lpham14@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Paul JarvisFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-Europe stocks resume record run as Middle East tensions ease
European stocks picked up their record rally on Thursday as the United States and Iran signalled a desire to avoid further conflict, while rising expectations that a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal will be signed next week also provided a lift. A 1.3% gain for Germany's trade-sensitive DAX stood out among regional peers, also benefiting from data showing better-than-expected industrial output in November that dispelled any remaining worries about a recession in Europe's economic powerhouse. "Confidence is recovering at a pace in Europe," said Steven Holden, CEO of Copley Fund Research.
- Reuters
Food waste and too much skinny menswear spoil M&S's Christmas
Higher food waste and weak sales of menswear and gifts tarnished Marks & Spencer's (M&S) Christmas performance, hammering the British retailer's shares and raising more questions about its latest turnaround attempt. M&S said on Thursday that while sales volumes in food increased, it also experienced higher waste levels. The group said its gifting performance was hit by "unprecedented discounting" in the UK clothing market between Black Friday and Christmas.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-FTSE cheers easing in U.S.-Iran worries; mid-caps miss out
London's main share index advanced on Thursday as chances of a full-blown crisis in the Middle East waned, but mid-caps lagged as SIG and Marks and Spencer fell after warning of lower annual results. The FTSE 100 rose 0.3% on its best day in a week after U.S. President Donald Trump stepped back from more military action against Iran and Tehran signalled an end to retaliation. "It looks like the shooting war is over for now, but there is always the potential for escalation at any point," Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said.
- Bloomberg
M&S and John Lewis Join Other U.K. Retailers in Christmas Doldrums
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to receive the Davos Diary, a special daily newsletter that will run from Jan. 20-24.U.K. retailers’ holiday sales were hit by brutal price pressure and the shift to e-commerce, rounding out their worst year on record.Marks & Spencer Group Plc, Tesco Plc and John Lewis Partnership Plc provided further evidence of the tough climate facing the country’s department stores and supermarkets with generally downbeat Christmas sales updates.The latest reports confirm fears that U.K. retailers would suffer as discounters, the rise of online shopping and political turmoil took their toll. The British Retail Consortium, a trade group, said the 0.1% drop in the industry’s revenue in 2019 was the worst performance it has recorded.M&S shares fell as much as 11% after it said gross margins will be around the lower end of its guidance for the year after holiday sales at the long-struggling clothing and home unit were weaker than the consensus.Tesco’s revenue dropped on a comparable basis as a weaker performance in central Europe masked growth in the U.K. that came ahead of expectations.John Lewis warned that it might not pay a bonus to its employee-owners after a drop in revenue. Paula Nickolds, the managing director of its department store division, is leaving.Marks & Spencer stock has lost more than half its value after dropping in each of the past five years. Menswear and lower gift sales held back the company’s clothing unit.M&S has been trying to turn around its business for the past decade, and its latest efforts are being led by Chairman Archie Norman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Rowe. Rowe said the weakness in Christmas sales was largely due to one-time issues such as the menswear performance and waste in the food unit.Looking to Future“The changes we made earlier in the year in clothing have arrested the worst of the issues of the first six months and we are progressively building a much stronger team for the future,” he said in a statement.Food performed better at Marks & Spencer, helped by investments in the product range and price cuts.Grocers Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc and J Sainsbury Plc gave trading updates earlier this week. While Morrison acknowledged that its lackluster sales were partly its own fault -- it failed to take part in Black Friday sales this year -- Sainsbury’s performance was fairly robust. Next Plc, the first U.K. retailer to update the market last week, also beat market expectations.The departure of Nickolds at John Lewis follows that retailer’s decision announced in June to name U.K. former telecom regulator Sharon White as its next chairman. The company’s department-store operations have been hit especially hard by the growth of Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers.“Paula and I have discussed where we are and we have agreed this is the right time for her to move on and we have reached that decision together,” departing Chairman Charlie Mayfield said on a call.Profit for the year will be “substantially lower,” Mayfield said, after a 56% plunge in the 12 months ended Jan. 26, 2019. Scrapping the vaunted staff bonus would be an important symbolic blow after the company had clung to small payouts in recent years even as earnings weakened.Tesco GainsTesco rose as much as 2.1% in London. Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, called the chain’s U.K. results a “material outperformance” compared to rivals. Still, the company only eked out 0.1% growth in Britain over Christmas.“In a subdued U.K. market, we performed well, delivering our fifth consecutive Christmas of growth,” said Tesco CEO Dave Lewis, who will be leaving the grocer this year.(Updates with BRC comment in third paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Deirdre Hipwell in London at dhipwell@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier, Anne PollakFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investing.com
Top 5 Things to Watch on Thursday Jan. 9
Investing.com - Crisis, what crisis? Markets look to have turned a new page after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump overnight seemed to point to an end to the rising U.S.-Iran tensions. U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open on Wall Street, continuing Wednesday’s gains which saw the Nasdaq notch a record close. Oil prices remain firm after a surprise build in weekly crude supplies, but gold has fallen back sharply from its elevated levels. Here’s what you need to know to start your day
- Fool.co.uk
ISA investors! Should you buy this cheap 5% dividend yield following THIS exciting news?
Is this battered former FTSE 100 dividend stock a buy following a key product launch? Royston Wild takes a look.
- Simply Wall St.
Read This Before Judging Marks and Spencer Group plc's (LON:MKS) ROE
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is...
- Reuters
M&S names former Tesco executive as interim finance chief
British retailer Marks & Spencer on Friday named former Tesco executive David Surdeau as its interim chief financial officer, temporarily filling a void left by the departure of Humphrey Singer. Surdeau, who spent 15 years at Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, in various finance roles, will start on Jan. 7 and report into group chief executive Steve Rowe. Singer left M&S on Dec. 31.
- Fool.co.uk
These FTSE 250 stocks slumped in 2019. Here’s what I’d do now
Two of the best-known FTSE 250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX) stocks have had a painful year, so will 2020 be better?
- Fool.co.uk
ISA investors! Is this former FTSE 100 stock and its 5% dividend yield too much trouble?
Is it time to buy this fallen Footsie star? Royston Wild decides whether or not those big dividend yields are worth the aggro.
- Fool.co.uk
Ouch! Here’s how much £1k invested in Marks and Spencer 5 years ago would be worth now
Paul Summers takes a closer look at just how awful an investment in Marks and Spencer Group plc (LON:MKS) has been in recent years.
- Bloomberg
Boris Bounce Won’t Save Christmas for British Retailers
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Brits haven’t felt very much like shopping this year, and understandably so. There’s been political gridlock and upheaval, the repeated threat of a hard Brexit and an election in December for the first time since 1923. No wonder despite strong employment, and wage growth outpacing inflation, U.K. consumers have been acting as if they’re in a recession.As a result, Britain’s army of shoppers have been choosing more classic colors such as black, navy, gray and camel rather than trendy shades at high-street stalwart Marks & Spencer Group Plc. Families have put off buying new fridges and dishwashers until their old appliances broke down. And they’ve turned to discounters Aldi and Lidl when, in spite of it all, they wanted to start preparing for Christmas by filling their shopping carts with panettone and children’s toys. Even with a lift from the Black Friday frenzy, this has all added up to weak non-food sales, and sluggish demand at the big supermarkets.Against this background, the general election result can only be reassuring: a hard Brexit has likely been shelved and affluent shoppers can breathe a sigh of relief that they won’t face a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn. This should all bode well for trading over the coming weeks, the conclusion of the so-called Golden Quarter that captures the run up to the holidays and the merrymaking as well. There is now only one weekend left before Christmas. Last week was likely a slow one in malls and on high streets with the pending election and heavy rain. If the weather is good — cold crisp conditions are best — then shoppers could come out in force for last minute gifts.This upswing may come too late for some store groups. Black Friday sucked spending into November, so that may mean there is less pent-up demand to be released in December. Many consumers bought Christmas gifts when they were on special offer. Unless those deals generated sales that wouldn’t have happened anyway, the mark downs mean margins will have suffered.It’s a different story for supermarkets. Their peak period kicks off around now, and the days immediately before the holiday will be the biggest for food shopping. With Brits feeling slightly less nervous, they may be prepared to buy a nicer bottle of wine, or a pricey free-range turkey — or a vegan Wellington.The recovery in the pound should be helpful too. Retailers selling clothing, toys and electronics buy well over half of the stock they sell from suppliers in Asia, and pay for them in dollars. When sterling weakens, their input costs rise. As stores struggle to pass higher prices onto consumers, their margins get squeezed. A stronger pound should ease the pressure on profitability. What’s more, a large amount of capacity is coming out of the market, with the likes of M&S, Debenhams Plc and Philip Green’s Arcadia Group closing stores. Chains that have survived the tumultuous conditions should benefit.But even if shoppers do party like its 1999 — and that’s still debatable — retailers may not escape a New Year hangover.If Prime Minister Boris Johnson forces through his Brexit deal — which now looks increasingly likely — it is only the starting point for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, and negotiations for a comprehensive agreement with its largest trading partner. There’s also the toll that the uncertainty of the past three years has taken on an already fragile British economy. Businesses may have held back from investing, potentially storing up trouble for the future. And despite overall strong employment, there have been job losses. Consumers make the most drastic changes to their purchasing habits when they are made redundant or see their friends losing their jobs.So even a late surge won’t change the winners and losers this Christmas. Discount players such as Aldi and Lidl and Associated British Foods Plc’s Primark are still likely to be standout performers. Next Plc is doubling down on its strong online presence by selling other retailers’ brands, which should pay off. Bricks and mortar clothing retailers and department stores will be under pressure from both Amazon.com Inc. and specialist-fashion brands such as Boohoo Group Plc. Meanwhile, a revival over the next two weeks may not be enough to compensate for lackluster sales so far at Britain’s big supermarkets.The general election result should make this Christmas a little less dismal. But it won’t transform it from turkey into a cracker.To contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance UK
What to Watch: Lagarde's first ECB meeting, Aramco surge, Ocado and Superdry sales
A daily overview of the top business, market, and economic stories to watch in the UK, Europe, and abroad.
- Yahoo Finance UK
Ocado and Marks & Spencer joint venture reports sales rise in 'strong quarter'
Ocado Retail said that retail revenue grew by 10.8% in the thirteen weeks to 1 December.
