Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[gruss] 26/8/2011 08:35

No doubt Nick is leading the charge. LOL

[isis] 26/8/2011 08:34

Looks like M&S are the short of the Day. It's annoying that we could be facing another recession so quickly after the last one.
Government debt appears to be the culprit this time though.

[essentialinvestor] 26/8/2011 08:28

That was exactly my point isis - it's not consumers that have it tougher than ever, it's the retailers because of competition.

Large CAPEX programme over the next couple of years, if sales do not develop
as hoped, not sure what the balance sheet will look like imv.

[isis] 26/8/2011 08:24

It depends if they give a warning or miss targets, a lot more shopping is be done on the Internet now which really skews things.
Typically you can buy 10% cheaper at the same store on-line with free delivery.

Too many chasing too little.

btw - I don't hold any at present.

[essentialinvestor] 26/8/2011 08:20

Where do you see the low here isis?.. approx 2.80 is my best guess.

[isis] 26/8/2011 06:59

It is ridiculous to compare the Retail Market with 40 years ago or even 30 years ago. For a start there was far, far less to buy, Shopping hours were far fewer and did not open on a Sunday EVER and food and clothing were definitely not cheap pro rata In fact it is still very much cheap now if you shop around and there is far greater choice. It's almost as if they want shoppers to feel they are victims.
Not only that people still have more disposable income and electrical goods were sky high years ago and would cost several months wages for most people.
It seems to me they are relying on poor memories or young people to make these stupid claims. What next - The Victorians all lived in Luxury, whilst we scrimp now?? total bolox and cursory glance at economic history would soon put them right.

I really wish they would put things into perspective and people are far better off than any other era without any doubt. This kind of nonsense just adds to the 'skint' feeling that some like to impose on themselves.
People do need more money now, but that's because they have so much more and there are too many retailers chasing profits and growth.

Oh and did I mention the Internet? LOL

[philanderer] 25/8/2011 23:20

Daily Mail market report..

"..A 14.7p fall to 316.3p in Marks & Spencer coincided with news that a garment factory in Cambodia which supplies garments for Swedish fashion brand H&M had to be closed after hundreds of workers fell sick after inhaling something bad from shirts. M&S has goods produced in Cambodia."

Read more:

[isis] 25/8/2011 20:59

Food and Clothing are far cheaper now days than then and electrical goods cost virtually nothing now compared. I remember when Video Recorders came out they were the equivalent of nearly 2 months wages then, a DVD Player now is less than a round of drinks.

I think people doth protetht to much!

[essentialinvestor] 25/8/2011 20:50

isis competition is far greater now imv,
particularly in food and clothing.
It's not just a question of total spend.

30 years ago MKS was untouchable.

[isis] 25/8/2011 20:41

I can't say that this is the worst for 40 years, the 70's and early 80's were real recessionary times and people had a lot less income and material goods.
There does seem some overreaction on a very small percentage drop.

[essentialinvestor] 25/8/2011 20:30

It's difficult to see where this will end for UK retail.

[isis] 25/8/2011 20:20

Retail trading 'worst in 40 years': Co-op

The Co-operative Group said that its sales had fallen by 1 per cent to £6.9 billion in the first six months of the year
Newscast / The Co-op
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The Co-operative Group said that its sales had fallen by 1 per cent to £6.9 billion in the first six months of the year Newscast / The Co-op
David Robertson
Last updated August 25 2011 9:16AM
The Co-operative Group warned today that there had been a savage downturn on the high street and that trading conditions were the worst for 40 years.
Britain's fifth-largest food retailer said that it saw no signs of improvement in the economy and indicated that it would struggle to match last year's profits.
Weak consumer confidence was also blamed by Topps Tiles, the country's largest flooring specialist, as it issued a profit warning today.
The tiles retailer said that like-for-like sales had fallen by 10.4 per cent in the the past seven weeks. Its shares crashed 10p, or 21.5 per cent, to 36½p in morning trading.
The Co-operative Group said that its sales had fallen by 1 per cent to £6.9 billion in the first six months of the year. Underlying profits were down by 10.7 per cent to £275.1 million.
Peter Marks, the group chief executive, said: "At the full year we warned that the downturn was biting deeper than anyone had expected and predicted that challenging trading conditions would continue into 2012.
"This has clearly proved to be the case. Indeed, it is the worst I have seen in over 40 years of retailing and, against this backdrop, the results we are announcing today are in line with our expectations."
Mr Marks continued: "Looking ahead, we do not see signs of any real improvement in the economy and we are planning accordingly to help our customers, as much as possible, through this difficult period. Given the outlook and our determination to continue to invest through the cycle, we will find it difficult to match the record profits we made in 2010, but I remain optimistic."
Profits in the food division fell by 21 per cent to £135.4 million and sales were down by 4.6 per cent to £3.7 billion.
The Co-op, which bought the Somerfield supermarket chain three years ago, said: "Intense competition from all major retailers greatly diminished customer confidence and the start of the Government's austerity cuts have all had a part to play."
The group's financial services division, which includes the Britannia Building Society, increased profits by 20.1 per cent to £131.3 million.

[isis] 25/8/2011 10:43

Looks like they're moving up and down after the event to make it look like they are keeping up with events.

Talk about Hindsight! LOL

[philanderer] 25/8/2011 08:33

Another one made up today ;-)


Espirito Santo retain 'buy' for MKS , cutting TP from 475p to 420p

[gruss] 24/8/2011 10:27

The brokers make it up as they go along! Also still holding from when I bought my main holding at £2.00. Getting a good divi so am very happy.

[isis] 23/8/2011 12:43

Or you could say 'Were we ever in one'?

[philanderer] 23/8/2011 12:34

Not sure about a double-dip recession...... don`t think we ever came out of the original one ;-)

[gruss] 22/8/2011 11:37

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is the new exclusive fashion partner for hit ITV show The X Factor 2011, it was announced on Friday.

The deal will see the retailer's autumn/winter clothing collections made available to viewers via the show's website once the programmes go live in October, using an M&S branded video player.

The partnership with Syco TV, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and ITV, will also allow M&S customers to attend The X Factor live final weekend at London's Wembley Arena - available as competition prizes on a number of multichannel platforms.

Detailing the reasons for the new relationship, Vice President of Brand Partnerships UK at FME Mark Rosenegk explained: "The ideas that M&S came to us with were really compelling and a great fit for The X Factor brand. They're an ideal fashion partner and we're looking forward to working with them over the next four months."

It is hoped that the deal will consolidate clothing sales figures, following positive news last month that the retailer's group sales had risen 3.2 per cent. Food was the best performing sector for the variety retailer in the 13 weeks to July 2nd 2011, with sales rising 3.3 per cent like-for-like compared to the same period last year.

Mark Brittain, Head of Commercial at Syco TV, welcomed the deal. He said: "It is very exciting to have such a strong brand like M&S joining forces with us to shine the spotlight on the new generation of The X Factor.

"With two such evolving and fresh brands the fashion partnership with M&S is ideal."

[isis] 22/8/2011 11:19

Well if you're a Bear I would hardly expect you to see any different!

LOL

I reckon the FTSE will be back to 6k this year and perhaps an alltime high next year if not the year after. :-))

[nickward] 22/8/2011 11:16

You guys are all so positive, I think we will have a double dip recession, I think unemployment will rise to 3 million and yes the wealthy will still be able to shop at M&S but when the whole economy shrinks so will M&S share price, even if their long term prospects are good. In my opinion we will not see the FTSE back at 6000 for a few years.

[essentialinvestor] 19/8/2011 13:46

By no means a scientific metric isis, agree with you on that.
However the major lack of buying is at least worth noting imv.

[isis] 19/8/2011 13:39

I don't think Director buying makes a lot of difference with FTSE Companies and can often lead investors up the wrong path, same goes with selling.
Directors bought heavily into Lloyds and Barclays recently and look at those!

[essentialinvestor] 19/8/2011 13:29

It would be nice to see some of the non execs buying.

UK Directors are not buying this market in any significant numbers
at these levels, lower to go imv.