MKS.L - Marks and Spencer Group plc
| Previous close | 189.05 |
| Open | 184.05 |
| Bid | 190.50 x 0 |
| Ask | 191.35 x 0 |
| Day's range | 188.00 - 194.40 |
| 52-week range | 161.35 - 315.00 |
| Volume | 600,861 |
| Avg. volume | 9,148,025 |
| Market cap | 3.781B |
| Beta (3Y monthly) | 1.00 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 90.76 |
| EPS (TTM) | 2.10 |
| Earnings date | 6 Nov 2019 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 0.14 (7.29%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 2019-05-30 |
| 1y target est | 294.84 |
- Fool.co.uk
Calling ISA investors! Could this 6% dividend yield help you retire rich or cost you a fortune?
Is this dirt-cheap FTSE 250 dividend stock too good to be true? Royston Wild takes a look at what investment here could do to your shares portfolio.
- Fool.co.uk
Is the Marks & Spencer share price a buy after 45% one-year fall?
The Marks & Spencer (LON: MKS) share price has crashed as profits fall, but here's a retail stock whose earnings are up.
- Fool.co.uk
Why I think this small-cap stock could trash the Marks & Spencer share price
A defensive business with strong profit and dividend growth, this small-cap stock could knock spots off Marks & Spencer, argues G A Chester.
- Fool.co.uk
Should ISA investors buy this unloved FTSE 100 dividend stock and its 6.6% yield?
Searching for cheap FTSE 100 shares to load up on? Royston Wild runs the rule over a fallen blue-chip with big dividend yields.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-Banks lead FTSE 100's descent; Thomas Cook collapse buoys rivals
The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% with financials and mining stocks dragging the most, while the FTSE 250 midcaps index shed 0.6%. The banking index lost nearly 1%, tracking a fall in British bond yields, after weaker-than-expected German data showed the private sector contracting for the first time in more than six years.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-What's on our radar
- Bloomberg
Marks & Spencer CFO Singer to Step Down Amid Retailer Revamp
(Bloomberg) -- Marks and Spencer Group Plc Chief Financial Officer Humphrey Singer plans to leave his post and the U.K. retailer is searching for his successor.Singer’s departure date hasn’t yet been decided and he’s working with Chief Executive Officer Steve Rowe to ensure a smooth transition, the company said Saturday in a statement.“After 18 months of working with Steve to lead the transformation strategy and rebuild the finance function I have decided that now is the right time to move on,” Singer said in the statement.The departure marks the latest twist in what has been a roller coaster few months for the retailer. This month the company was demoted from the FTSE 100 index for the first time, following a mixed reception to its plans to finance a joint venture with Ocado Group Plc via a rights offering and dividend cut.Its shares have fallen more than 30% since the tie-up was announced in February.Challenging TurnaroundSinger has decided it was a natural time for him to move on with details of the Ocado financing now wrapped up. He called the company’s turnaround “challenging but hugely rewarding.”The milestone deal with Ocado to deliver grocery orders in the U.K. was viewed as a way to help bolster M&S’s key food business. But investors haven’t shared this optimism, fearing another costly store revamp as profit falls.At the company’s full-year results in May, CEO Rowe said M&S had “not been consistent in its delivery in a number of areas of the business,” and it expected trading for the year to be second-half weighted as its transformation efforts continue.M&S expects to close around 25 Simply Food stores, as well as a further 85 full-line stores, and forecasts that net store closures will reduce sales in its food business by around 1% for the new financial year.Singer will stay in place until a successor is found, with an orderly handover a key focus for the company as it looks to navigate the retail industry’s choppy waters at a time when Brexit is weighing on U.K. consumer confidence.(Updates to change headline, add details throughout.)To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Smith in London at rsmith599@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sunil Kesur at skesur@bloomberg.net, Charles Daly, Sara MarleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-M&S suffers fresh blow as finance chief quits
Marks & Spencer Group Plc said on Saturday its chief financial officer, Humphrey Singer, was stepping down after little more than a year, a further setback as the retailer is demoted from Britain's leading share index. Singer, who joined from electricals retailer Dixons Carphone in 2018, will work with Chief Executive Steve Rowe on the succession process, the company said. Marks & Spencer, a 135-year-old firm that is one of the biggest names in British retail, has struggled to compete effectively on clothing with the likes of Zara and H&M, and will be relegated from London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares with effect from Sept. 23 because of its declining market valuation.
- Reuters - UK Focus
M&S CFO Humphrey Singer to quit position - Sky News
- Bloomberg
The British Company That Doesn’t Fear a Hard Brexit
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- As Britain appears to be careering toward a no-deal Brexit, Next Plc Chief Executive Simon Wolfson is trying to reassure investors that the company should come out largely unscathed. That sounds overly optimistic, but Next has less to fear than most retailers.Wolfson, a Conservative Party peer and well-known Brexit supporter, says that as long as Britain’s ports operate effectively, Next’s operations and profits won’t be significantly impacted.That’s a big if. To be sure, Next doesn’t rely heavily on the Port of Dover, widely expected to face the biggest crunch if the U.K. crashes out of the European Union without a deal. But a disorderly Brexit on Oct. 31 could be a logistical nightmare for retailers because warehouses will be full of Christmas stock, leaving them little room to stockpile other items. A no-deal scenario could also make consumers reluctant to spend, especially if it results in higher inflation, as many expect.The good news is that Next won’t be suddenly facing higher tariffs. It estimates that the U.K. government’s temporary tariff regime that will come into place in the event of a no-deal Brexit will actually reduce the duties on most clothing, saving the company 25 million pounds ($31 million) in the first year. That’s a mere rounding error for a company the size of Next, so not exactly a major boon, but still a plus. With U.K. inflation in August at its lowest rate since 2016 and wages rising, consumers have more spending power. But Next is already facing disappointing sales at the start of the autumn season, which caused shares to fall as much as 5%. The company blamed the warm September weather rather than political turmoil. Even so, it’s a worry ahead of the peak trading season.There’s no doubt that Brexit uncertainty has weighed on consumers’ willingness to spend. British home-improvement retailer Kingfisher Plc said Wednesday that it had affected sales of higher-priced items like kitchens. Overall U.K. sales of household goods fell in August compared with the same period a year earlier. But even in a worst-case scenario of a no-deal, Next is better placed than most retailers. It believes the broader political uncertainty is less likely to impact smaller-ticket purchases such as clothing. And Next has outperformed many of its rivals in what has been a cut-throat retail market. It has developed a strong online business and isn’t saddled with too many stores with long leases or in the wrong places. It’s also been quietly developing Label, through which it sells third-party fashion brands.Next’s clothing lines are now hitting the right notes. After admitting it got too trendy a couple of years ago, the company appears to have found the right balance between style and predictability.The shares have risen almost 55% this year, far outperforming both competitors and the broader FTSE 100 Index. Next trades on a forward price earnings ratio of about 13 times, at a deserved premium to Marks & Spencer Group Plc, whose shares have slumped almost 15% this year after its pricey Ocado deal and subsequent rights issue. All retailers need to worry about the danger of a hard Brexit, but Next should emerge in better shape than most.To contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Baker at stebaker@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.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-Britain's Ocado could make early start to M&S deliveries
British online supermarket Ocado could start home deliveries of the full Marks & Spencer range before next September, ahead of their joint venture's original deadline, it said on Tuesday. Ocado and M&S completed the 1.5 billion pound ($1.9 billion) joint venture deal in August, creating Ocado Retail and signalling the end of Ocado's supply contract with upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose in September 2020. "There is a chance we might bring forward, at least partially bring forward, that transition date," Ocado finance chief Duncan Tatton-Brown told reporters.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UK's Duchess Meghan returns to work to launch new charity fashion range
Britain's Duchess Meghan returned to work on Thursday for the first time following the birth of her first child with husband Prince Harry to launch a new fashion range whose sales will help a charity supporting unemployed women. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has made a handful of public appearances since son Archie was born in May but the launch of the fashion collection, created in collaboration with well-known British stores and fashion designers, marks her first official engagement. The sale of the "Smart Set Capsule Collection" will last for at least two weeks and is designed to help Smart Works, a charity that provides quality clothes and training for unemployed women for job interviews.
- Fool.co.uk
Why I’d run a mile from the Sports Direct share price right now
Sports Direct International plc (LON: SPD) shares have slumped, but here's why I still wouldn't buy them.
- Reuters - UK Focus
RPT-GRAPHIC-FTSE 100's changing face: A trip down memory lane
Marks & Spencer's exit from the FTSE 100 underlines how times have changed since the blue-chip index was launched in 1984, when it was dominated by British companies including household names like M&S, Cadbury and House of Fraser. Home-grown talent is increasingly absent from the FTSE, now valued at $2.4 trillion, as failure to grow domestically or make the cut internationally has seen companies disappear via mergers, demotions, de-listing or privatisation. MFI Furniture was among founding members of the index that failed to survive after privately-owned IKEA entered the UK market in the 1980s.
- Reuters
FTSE 100's changing face - trip down memory lane
Marks & Spencer's exit from the FTSE 100 underlines how times have changed since the blue-chip index was launched in 1984, when it was dominated by British companies including household names like M&S, Cadbury and House of Fraser. Home-grown talent is increasingly absent from the FTSE, now valued at $2.4 trillion (1.94 trillion pounds), as failure to grow domestically or make the cut internationally has seen companies disappear via mergers, demotions, de-listing or privatisation. MFI Furniture was among founding members of the index that failed to survive after privately-owned IKEA entered the UK market in the 1980s.
- Fool.co.uk
Forget M&S: I think this FTSE 100 company could be a better bet
With Marks & Spencer Group (LON: MKS) looking like it could drop out of the FTSE 100, I think this company is worth investigating instead.
- Fool.co.uk
The M&S share price is leaving the FTSE 100. Could now be the time to buy?
The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) reshuffle will see Marks & Spencer Group plc (LON: MKS) leave the index, but this could be good news, believes Rupert Hargreaves.
- Fool.co.uk
Tempted by the Marks & Spencer share price? Here’s what you need to know
Marks and Spencer Group plc (LON: MKS) is facing huge problems and the share price has fallen. Does that mean the shares are now good value, or just a value trap?
- Fool.co.uk
Have £2,000 to invest? A FTSE 250 dividend stock I’d buy and hold for the next 10 years
Roland Head highlights two contrarian dividend stocks he'd buy from the FTSE 250 (INDEXFTSE: MCX).
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 1-Fashion conscious Boohoo online sales bloom, lifting shares
Britain's Boohoo raised its full-year revenue forecast on Thursday on strong demand from its young customers for brands like PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal, sending the online fashion firm's shares to an all-time high. Shares in Boohoo, founded 14 years ago in Manchester, northern England, rose as much as 17% to an all-time high of 285.3 pence, as it said it expected its full-year revenue to rise between 33% and 38%, ahead of its previous 25% to 30% guidance, which would deliver a corresponding rise in earnings. Online retailers like Boohoo are growing fast, often at the expense of traditional shopping outlets such as Marks and Spencer, whose share price fall has seen the 135-year-old retailer evicted from the blue-chip FTSE 100 index on Wednesday.
- Bloomberg
M&S's Relegation Isn't Such a Bad Look, Really
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Marks & Spencer Group Plc showed off its key looks for the autumn winter season this week. It is aiming to woo shoppers with 1970s-inspired prints, jewel toned blouses and tailored coats. But the high street stalwart has gone out of fashion with investors. Its shares are set to fall out of the FTSE 100 index for the first time in 35 years.As a bellwether for the British retail industry, M&S’s demotion underlines the dire condition of the U.K.’s store groups. But for the seller of Percy Pig sweets to cashmere sweaters, it isn't the disaster it might first appear to be.Its shares have fallen 33% over the past year, and at about 190 pence are close to their level at the depths of the financial crisis.Any further decline in the M&S share price precipitated by the relegation would be unwelcome to its army of individual investors, which own about 20% of the stock.But a fall out of the FTSE 100 would get the demotion over with. Talk of M&S’s demise wouldn’t keep coming round every quarter that M&S was on the cusp. That would at least give Chairman Archie Norman and his team a break from one pressure.And they have plenty of others to contend with. The clothing market remains extremely difficult. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect a 3% decline in same-store U.K. clothing and home furnishing sales in M&S’s fiscal first half. Like-for-like food sales, they forecast, will be flat.Meanwhile, M&S must make a go of its joint venture with Ocado Plc, after buying half of the online retailer’s U.K. division for up to 750 million pounds ($916 million). Norman wants to double M&S’s food sales over the next five years or so to about 12 billion pounds – but he has to convince customers to switch from Ocado products currently supplied by Waitrose to alternatives from M&S.If the share price is hit further by the demotion from the FTSE 100, then it could finally force the company to consider splitting up its food and clothing operations. With profits from both divisions under pressure, and undemanding retail multiples, there’s little value to be gained from a break-up right now. But if Norman can make a go of the Ocado deal, this should elevate the worth of the food business, making a split more compelling.The other possibility is that a predator emerges. Bids for Greene King Plc in the U.K. and Metro AG in Germany show that appetite is there for consumer groups. While M&S’s old adversary Philip Green isn’t in a position to pounce, private equity might, particularly if it backed Norman and Justin King – handily, the former Sainsbury boss is a non-executive at the retailer. The group might just also appeal to Amazon.com Inc. But any bidder would have to get comfortable with the risks of both Brexit and M&S’s 9.3 billion pounds of pension liabilities. While the program had a 900 million-pound surplus at March 30, any change of control could see the trustees push a new new owner to inject more funds – possibly as much as 1 billion pounds.That leaves Norman with grinding out the promised turnaround. He will be hoping M&S’s spell in the FTSE 250 index will be a fleeting trend, rather than a wardrobe staple.\--With assistance from Elaine He.To contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@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.
- Reuters - UK Focus
Share index relegation a sign of the times for once mighty M&S
Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has said he is unperturbed by the British retailer's share price slide, with his focus on the long term, but relegation from the prestigious FTSE 100 index is a symbol of its decline. M&S will be ejected in a quarterly reshuffle of the London index, according to Reuters calculations based on Tuesday's closing share price of 187 pence, which gave it a market value of 3.64 billion pounds ($4.5 billion). FTSE Russell, the index provider, will confirm M&S's exit after the end of trading on Wednesday, with the change taking effect on Sept. 23.
- Reuters
Marks & Spencer to be kicked out of FTSE 100 for first time
Marks & Spencer will be relegated from London's FTSE 100 index for the first time since the inception of the blue-chip index in 1984, according to Reuters calculations based on Tuesday's closing prices. The 135-year old retailer's shares were valued at 3.7 billion pounds ($4.54 billion), making it the 115th most valuable stock among London-listed companies, according to closing data. FTSE Russell, London Stock Exchange-owned index provider, requires companies to be ranked 110 or higher to be a part of the FTSE 100 index.
