Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[artnouveau] 08/7/2011 19:14

Rumour mill persisting in tonight's Evening Standard regarding possible joint bid by Qatari/Sainsbury bid. Yes I know, that old chestnut.


How it would pass mergers and monopolies lord knows.

Surely the share price is rising as punters believe M&S is keeping pace with John Lewis and Next.

ArtN

[breliz] 08/7/2011 16:00

Notwithstanding bad employment figures from across the pond

[isis] 08/7/2011 12:52

I've been buying some stuff lately from M&S online and have to say their service, descriptions and quality are extremely good.
Unlike some they allow you to cancel things, change them or rearrange dates when you've done your order with no hassle.
I think they were one of the first to do the store collect and refund service also.

I expect good things from these in the future, especially the overseas expansion.

[killieboy] 07/7/2011 19:39

dugganjoe - 15 Jul.

[dugganjoe] 07/7/2011 18:43

When will that juicy dividend hit my account?

[spob] 06/7/2011 10:06

I'm not talking specifically about the last set of MKS results.

My thinking is not pie in the sky, it is based on fact.

Some companies including MKS do selectively brief analysts in private ahead of results statements. This practice goes on before the eyes of the regulators and I believe it to be extremely unfair.

All price sensitive information should be released to all market participants at the same time via RNS.

[gruss] 06/7/2011 09:33

SPOB

Sorry but pie in the sky thinking on your part. Prior to the last set of sales figures being released the share price fell sharply and the world and his wife was full of doom and gloom for MKS. It was only after they were released the price rallied strongly.

I have held since buying my main holding at £2.00 and then buying some at £3.82 and will continue to hold.

Good luck!

[isis] 06/7/2011 09:17

So you think the results will be good then? :-))

[spob] 06/7/2011 09:13

I would imagine based on previous experience, that the reason MKS has been outperforming recently is down to the company privately briefing city analysts before the trading statement.

This unfair practise amounts to insider dealing in my opinion and should be outlawed.

Sell on the news.

[broadwood] 05/7/2011 11:28

GRUSS - Sleep well!


Matrix Marks & Spencer... 05/07/11 10:42 Upgrades Add Buy 1 407.00 407.00

[gruss] 05/7/2011 11:06

Arden Partners have reiterated their buy recommendation on the 4 July.
Target left at £4.45.

Also on a separate issue I noticed that MKS were selling some memory foan mattresses off cheap today. The price was £899.00 and I got it for £269.00.

Good for me but perhaps not so good for the profit margin!

[isis] 02/7/2011 10:22

John Lewis bucks the trend again: Sales up 20% as rest of High Street struggles
By RUPERT STEINER
Last updated at 10:36 PM on 1st July 2011

Comments (6)
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Britain's biggest department store chain has bucked the gloom sweeping the High Street, announcing a huge leap in weekly sales.
Shoppers flocked to John Lewis's 33 stores, snapping up cut-price fashion and discounted laptops in the summer sale.
The 20 per cent increase in sales for the week to June 25 was spread across the country, with all John Lewis stores taking more cash than the year before.

Taking it to the next level: John Lewis stores across the country enjoyed bumper increases in sales
And the upbeat trading is in stark contrast to the battering experienced by its rivals.
Discount department store retailer TJ Hughes called in the administrators, placing 4,000 jobs at risk, as did Habitat's UK stores, jeopardising 700 jobs.

More...
Troubled music chain HMV's profits slump on death of the CD
How shopping on your mobile or social networks exposes you to fraud
Women's fashion chain Jane Norman shut 33 stores, making 400 staff redundant, and confectioner Thorntons identified 120 underperforming outlets facing the axe, leaving 700 jobs at risk.
Britain's biggest floor coverings firm, Carpetright, announced plans to shut 75 shops, affecting 200 jobs, and troubled music chain HMV is shutting 40 stores.
Cash-strapped shoppers have been reining in spending on all but the most essential of items.
Household budgets have been crushed by increased taxes, the cost of petrol, and wage freezes causing carnage on Britain's city centres.
But John Lewis showed customers are still out there buying products, with fashion up 22 per cent and childrenswear 42 per cent.
Even accessories and beauty saw sales lift 22 per cent. Much of the sharp increase was due to there being fewer shoppers around last year because of the World Cup football tournament.


Read more:

[spob] 01/7/2011 15:16

MKS on fire today

who's pumping ?

[gruss] 30/6/2011 09:32

Shorters and would be shorters do not read the following article as it could damaged your finances.

From a Retail analyst.

Quote.
Without a doubt, the retail sector is having a difficult time. Consumer confidence is low owing to the rise in VAT, increased taxes and public sector job cuts which have inevitably had some impact on retail sales. The feel-good factor in April and early May caused by the royal wedding and the bank holidays that gave retail a much-needed boost has now evaporated. However, it's not all doom and gloom as despite the highly competitive marketplace, some retailers such as John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Next and many of the large food retailers are doing well.

[jeffian] 29/6/2011 20:56

Blimey! Well it looks as if a few shares changed hands today!

[philanderer] 29/6/2011 20:40

Yep, for sure..

Guardian market report:

".. Marks & Spencer fell 7.3p to 361.6p as it brought forward its summer sale by two weeks, another sign of the strains on high street retailers. Simon Irwin at Liberum Capital said:

"The company says that this is in response to competitor activity. As we have been saying all year we believe that the apparel retailers will manage the combination of slow sales and inflation very badly and will continue to over-order. Every retailer that reports has significantly higher inventories year on year and we believe that gross margin guidance across the sector is too high as they fail to pass on higher input prices."

[isis] 29/6/2011 09:44

It might be because everyone has?

[philanderer] 29/6/2011 08:22

FT

* Marks and Spencer has brought its summer sale forward by two weeks, raising questions about its performance

[isis] 28/6/2011 09:10

I hadn't realised how extensive the Simply M&S deal with BP garages was - saw dozens of them over the Weekend.

[dugganjoe] 28/6/2011 09:07

looking goooooooooood

[dugganjoe] 27/6/2011 09:57

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis posted its best weekly performance of the financial year so far, with sales up 8.6 per cent in the week to 18 June....

[alphahunter] 16/6/2011 11:24

Isis,

Come-on, give us the update on H&M and this morning's appalling retail sales in May by the ONS.

I wonder whether the strong performance at Mulberry is thanks to all these Chinese tourists buying bags on their way to grab a sandwich at MKS (lol).

Anyway, I'm out of this MKS trade, and they'll do fine against the rest of the market.

As "feared", TSCO came with disappointing numbers, I sold my long position when they said that May was quiet at the BRC conference.

My only long position in retailish is WGB - Walker Greenbank - actually not retail but homeware. Still short the General Retail Index and the one opened in Carpetright is - as expected - a bit sluggish given the game played by DMA Level2 day-traders & market makers, but in profit.

On June 10th, I mentionned "the contruction sector - whether materials or engineering services or developpers" as a one to short. Well neither Atkins, Ashtead nor SpeedyHire are doing great this morning. Ans this is not just the general stock market coming off, this is order intake / new orders in the construction sector slowing dramatically in the last two months. More will come.

Good Luck and Good trades.


By the way, MKS has agreed a new pricing framework for milk suppliers - positive impact for Robert Wiseman?