Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[dlku] 07/1/2016 09:39

These are gonna be great from now on phil

[philanderer] 07/1/2016 09:37

Couple in from the experts..

7th jan Peel Hunt sell tp 400p
7th jan Haitong Secs buy tp 550p
7th jan Cantor sell tp 420p cut from 490p
7th jan Investec buy tp 570p cut from 590p

[philanderer] 07/1/2016 09:20

diku , I posted that guardian story last night about larger food halls .... rather apt in hindsight ;-)

[philanderer] 07/1/2016 09:18

LOL , no I`m not saying that . I`m saying this commentator was saying that obesity has cost M&S a lot of customers over the years . Competition for that market from Primark, Bonmarche, Matalan etc. I think the term black clothing army was used.

[dlku] 07/1/2016 09:12

So you saying that there are no middle class / middle aged and over 60s` customers who need clothes. lol.

[philanderer] 07/1/2016 09:09

Too dear for Green , 500p top offer from private equity or anyone else.

Womens clothing down the plughole.

Just listening to a womens retail expert and she was saying there really is no market for M&S potential middle class / middle aged and over 60s` customers.

Overweight / fat / obese is the order of the day and this is trying to be covered up by a couple of black outfits consisting of black leggins and a black coat cardigan all the year round.

[dlku] 07/1/2016 08:52

good to have queues

[johnwise] 07/1/2016 08:47

I was in my local M&S yesterday as usual a queue out the door of the coffee shop and as usual of the three tills only two open hence the long queue I have mentioned this problem several times to floor management which is ignored, poor customer service continues

[dlku] 07/1/2016 08:42

old news now




Superb results update. Im happy for them with Gross Margin at top end

Record food sales

Record online sales

New broom will reduce general merchandise space and expand food sq footage

[johnwise] 07/1/2016 08:36

Why was a grocery boy from Morrisons given the job to run a fashion business in the first place ?. He has been a disaster for Marks and Spencer he should have been given the boot years ago.


M&S boss Marc Bolland steps down
Marc Bolland, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, has announced he is retiring

Mr Bolland's departure comes as the high street retailer reported its worst Christmas for clothing sales, with like-for-like sales in the important general merchandise division down by 5.8pc over the festive period.

[marko1961] 07/1/2016 08:32

Just a thought. If phillip green was ever going to buy. It should be now

[dlku] 07/1/2016 08:04

prime buy out candidate

[essentialinvestor] 07/1/2016 07:45

Well they could have said they could walk on water and it would not
have made too much difference on a day like today may turn out to be,
looking brutal for markets atm.

[dlku] 07/1/2016 07:30

Superb results update. Im happy for them with Gross Margin at top end

Record food sales

Record online sales

New broom will reduce general merchandise space and expand food sq footage

[leadersoffice] 07/1/2016 07:27

He has run out of lives. Not sure it's the right decision appointing within but let's see what happens.

[marko1961] 07/1/2016 07:10

How big will his reward for failure be ???? It will be measured in millions im sure

[marko1961] 07/1/2016 07:09

Well bolland is on his bike i wonder how much he will get

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 23:30

Waitrose may have been first out of the blocks on Christmas figures, but M&S could be the winner

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 20:17

Makes sense.. and the leak may be responsible for today`s share price resilience... numbers are going to be rortten tomorrow but hopefully priced in now

'Marks & Spencer to trial larger food halls'

Floorspace once devoted to clothing will be reduced at eight stores with others being consider as part of attempt to bolster struggling overall sales

Marks & Spencer has begun a trial scheme to increase the size of its food halls and cut back on the space it devotes to fashion as its clothing sales continue to slump.

The retailer has already lined up eight stores where it will increase the amount of floorspace for its upmarket food range over the next six months. It is now examining how many more could be rejigged to bolster its struggling sales and profit performance.

The strategy is being developed as M&S is expected to reveal another dive in fashion sales over the key three months to 26 December. Sales from stores – rather than online – are expected to be down by as much as 10%.

Online sales are expected to be up by as much as a third, as M&S recovers from problems at the distribution centre for its internet business a year ago. With both stores and online taken into account, City analysts are expecting underlying sales of clothing to have fallen by 2%. The retailer’s in-house broker Nomura is predicting a 5.5% slide.

It will be the third consecutive quarter of falling clothing sales – the M&S has now had just one quarterly rise in five years.

The retailer has struggled to compete with growing competition from rivals including Next and Debenhams, and fashion chains such as H&M, Zara and New Look, where its once core “mum and dad” customers are now happy to shop.

But the M&S food business is thriving in a tough market. Food sales at its established stores are expected to have risen by as much as 1% over the three months to Boxing Day – putting M&S well ahead of grocers such as Tesco and Morrisons.

Well informed sources said M&S had concluded that it devoted too much store space to clothing, especially as shoppers’ shift towards buying online and the retailer continues to struggle to regain the broad family appeal it had in the 1980s.

The food business, which currently does not offer home deliveries, is better protected from the switch to online shopping as its upmarket own-label products cannot be bought elsewhere.

With food performing well, one source said there could be as many as 60 stores which had space for larger departments.

The retailer’s biggest stores have food departments as large as 16,000 sq ft (1,500 sq m) – the size of a small high street supermarket. But the average space devoted to food in its medium-sized stores is about 7,000 sq ft and it is understood that there are dozens which could be expanded by up to 30%.

Fraser Ramzan, a retail analyst at Nomura, said: “The channel shift [towards online sales] in the most recent quarter does raise questions about what to do with store space longer term. Other retailers such as B&Q and Debenhams have already addressed store space with concessions or closures. M&S does have a decent alternative use for some of their spare space – food.”

About t10 years ago, M&S cut back the amount of space devoted to food in a handful of stores. But the retailer is thought unlikely to simply unwind those changes

One well-informed source said the retailer would have to consider a number of factors including the location, car-parking facilities, the spending power of the local community and level of competition in an area to judge the opportunity for expanding food space.

“Each store will have to be judged on its own merits with a lot of factors taken into consideration,” said the source. “Clothing profit margins are much higher so they don’t want to shrink clothing sales and find they don’t make the money back on food.”

M&S has already cut back the amount of space devoted to clothing in some stores by introducing cafes, restaurants, delis and dedicated areas for picking up goods bought online.

One source who knows the retailer well said there was still further opportunity to expand cafes and takeaway food areas to reflect the rising trend in eating out and buying pre-prepared food.

Retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco are already introducing more eateries and takeaway food areas to take advantage of the changing spending habits.

Spending in restaurants and pubs rose 14.4% and nearly 10% respectively last year, according to credit and debit card provider Barclaycard, while food and drink shopping rose just 1%.

With all the challenges it faces, Ramzan said M&S not only needed to reassess its existing outlets but be more proactive in reshaping its store estate.

The retailer closed 12 stores in the six months to November, nearly twice the number in the previous six months, and analysts said M&S appeared to have stepped up action to move out of less popular shopping locations.

“It’s not just about closing stores but opening in the right places where, in an increasingly online world, people want to shop,” Ramzan said.

A spokeswoman for M&S said the changes to store space were just business as usual and it had no plans to alter dozens of stores. The company has said it wants to keep the space devoted to clothing and homewares steady across the business and that was still the current plan.

“We will move some space from GM [clothing and homeware] to food in eight stores over the next few months. This is part of our regular work to ensure every store has the best possible set up for our customers,” she added.

[badtime] 06/1/2016 15:24

Thnx for replies ..seem to have got my wires crossed somehow

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 14:15

Missed this one yesterday

5 January 2016 | 13:40pm

StockMarketWire.com -

Societe Generale today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Marks & Spencer Group PLC [LON:MKS] and cut its price target to 595p (from 652p).

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 13:11

badtime , tomorrow is not ex div it is Q3 Interim Management Statement.

They went xd 12th november last year for 6.8p and that is due to be paid friday.

[essentialinvestor] 06/1/2016 13:02

Given the carnage in wider markets today,
at least we have a little daily outperformance atm, I'm clutching at straws here )

May all change tomorrow!.

Must have confused MKS with the JL update date.

bt, thought it was the pay date tomorrow.

I have a PNL divi tomorrow from memory.

[badtime] 06/1/2016 12:13

I know these go exdiv tomorrow ..but anyone know payment date?TIA