Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[loganair] 12/11/2018 21:58

Having a brand ambassador really puts me off a product or company.

[philanderer] 12/11/2018 20:25

Marks & Spencer has done something different with its Christmas ad this year.

Unlike its competitors, who have produced blockbuster-style campaigns that could be standalone short films in their own right, the British retailer has opted for a lower-budget ad starring brand ambassadors David Gandy and Holly Willoughby.

[poikka] 12/11/2018 17:05

Groan - IC - young people grow old, and anyway I've seen young customers in MKS, just need to attract a few more.

[countless] 12/11/2018 14:18

From IC mag...…

I’m not a fan of politics generally and tend to avoid mentioning it when discussing investments. However, I can’t help thinking that Marks & Spencer (MKS) has many similarities with the current Conservative party: Both are very reliant on the support of wealthy older people and will probably face terminal decline unless they change their ways.

Half-year results released this week show that the company has much to do. LFL sales in clothing and homeware were down by 1 per cent and Food LFL sales were down by 2.9 per cent. The company is looking to put things right by closing stores, opening better stores, refreshing its clothing ranges, improving its online business and revamping its supply chain and cutting costs.
Can M&S become a successful and growing retailer again? I’m not so sure it can.
In clothing, I think it has a very tough task. Competitors such as Boohoo, Asos, Next and Primark offer a combination of better and cheaper ranges. With the exception of Primark – which doesn’t sell online – all have good and established online businesses and fulfilment.
I think M&S food is very good quality but its prices are too expensive – with a few exceptions such as ready meals – given what can be bought elsewhere. I think it’s going to be hard for it to woo more customers.

If it can prove doubters such as me wrong, then I would say that M&S shares look quite interesting just now. The business remains very good at generating cash flow, with free cash flows increasing due to a tight rein on capex spending. As a result, debt levels are coming down. But can M&S deliver meaningful growth in sales and free cash flow?
If it can, then the shares look cheap and offer a 2019 forecast free cash flow yield of 9.5 per cent, at a share price of 297p. This suggests that the dividend yield of 6.2 per cent looks safe for the time being. One for contrarian investors to consider perhaps?

[loganair] 12/11/2018 11:33

As far as I can see, the Euro will not suceed until it is split into the Euro and the Mediterranean Euro for Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and may be a couple of other countries. I call it the Mediterranean Euro rather then the Souther Euro as this will give the oppotunity for countires such as Morocco to join who already fix their local currency ahainst the Euro.

This would allow the Southern European countries to devalue against the other Euro countries. Upon the split the Med Euro would be split on a 1 to 1 basis against the Euro and the Euro debt of these countries would also be denominated in Med Euros.

[poikka] 12/11/2018 11:23

Phil - "Pound taking a good kicking on the latest brexit sh1te shambles."

But up against the Euro.

[loganair] 12/11/2018 11:21

The problem is that the British have been discussing Brexit with Junckers and Barnier who both want a United States of Europe and hate any country who doesn't or who wishes to leave the EU.

It would have been far better for the British to have discussed the Irish situation exclusively with the Republic of Ireland and the rest of Brexit with other European Heads of Government.

[philanderer] 12/11/2018 10:15

Pound taking a good kicking on the latest brexit sh1te shambles.

[diku] 12/11/2018 10:00

Henchard...pls keep posting...just ignore the research poster...

I like where it says ZERO!!...the only winners are the insiders laughing all the way to their banks...


"... shares are currently trading at a bit above 300p, a level first reached as long ago as 1992. Sure, there have been dividends along the way (and cuts) but factor in a quarter of a century of inflation and I calculate the real return over the period as somewhere around zero."

[poikka] 12/11/2018 09:55

Qantas, "why am I so bothered"? Just think it looks ridiculous, and appears to assume that others don't DTOR, which is a pretty rich assumption. Other than that, if you're ok appearing odd, I'm not fussed.

[henchard] 11/11/2018 23:13

QANTAS, sorry didn't release this was a chat line, thought it was a place for discussing stocks. My bad.

[qantas] 11/11/2018 22:07

Henchard no point you wasting your time on this chat line then?

Please do your own research.

[henchard] 11/11/2018 21:35

philanderer, that's okay for folk investing on a 10-month view but the longer term returns aren't so good:

3 year TR annualised: MKS -11.4% vs FTSE 100 +8.4%
5 year TR annualised: MKS -4% vs FTSE 100 +5.1%

and

"... shares are currently trading at a bit above 300p, a level first reached as long ago as 1992. Sure, there have been dividends along the way (and cuts) but factor in a quarter of a century of inflation and I calculate the real return over the period as somewhere around zero."



All in all a pretty damning indictment of a company that's failed to reward investors for equity risk. Will the next 25 years be any better than the last 25?

[philanderer] 11/11/2018 20:10

Including the 12p dividend paid earlier this year MKS is +10p for 2018, which by far outperforms both the FTSE100 and FTSE250 which are both almost -8% for the year.

[qantas] 11/11/2018 15:41

No Black Friday.

Please do your own research...

[qantas] 11/11/2018 15:32

diku good afternoon please don't make yourself a bigger diku thank you already are?

Please do your own research.

[diku] 11/11/2018 14:00

You like balls?...

[qantas] 11/11/2018 11:11

Digital First Business.



Please do your own research.

[qantas] 11/11/2018 10:41

diku grow some balls.

Please do your own research.

[diku] 11/11/2018 10:11

You wasting a lot of space in that research note...no relevance to your posting...

Best if you join a circus!...

[qantas] 11/11/2018 10:07

Next resistance point 324.00 pence.

Please do your own research?

[qantas] 11/11/2018 10:02

Diku you know nothing just a total diku waste of space doomed to failure best you seek immediate medical help.

Please do your own research.

[diku] 11/11/2018 09:30

Yes you buying DEB at 50p and lower...now 8p!!...do some research on how to invest...

[qantas] 11/11/2018 09:26

In your dreams diku total waste of space.

Please do your own research.

[diku] 11/11/2018 09:01

That is the second best you can do?...now be a good boy/girl and move over and stay at the DEB thread with your research note!...