Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[libertine] 06/12/2012 15:45

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Speculation has surfaced that Sir Philip Green, who has sold a 25 per cent stake in his Topshop and Topman chain for 500m pounds to a US private equity outfit, is lining up a bid for Marks & Spencer, whose shares were up in midday trade.

Rik Thakrar, risk manager and senior dealer at Spread Co said: "It is no secret that Sir Philip has long coveted Marks & Spencer, and has wanted to bring his expertise to restore the blue-blooded retailer to former glories.

"Investors are clearly speculating that the Arcadia Chairman will use his newly acquired funds to launch a takeover of M&S. Despite shares being close to a one-month high, the Spread Co dealing desk has recorded a surge in long positions in M&S this morning."

The buyer of Green's stake in Topshop and Topman was US private equity group Leonard Green and Partners. It is also likely that any future bid for M&S will involve some form of private equity backing, given the current £6.3bn market cap of M&S.

Green's last attempt to take over Marks & Spencer failed eight years ago. He offered £9.1bn in a hostile bid, which equated to 400p a share.

A spokesperson at Arcadia commented: "There is no truth to this."

At 12.15 Marks & Spencer shares were up 3.3p at 397.6p.

[guidfarr] 01/12/2012 17:05

For those interested Spread Betting Magazine December edition is now online - it includes an interesting feature covering the major stock market crashes of the last 100 years

[druinsky] 30/11/2012 16:17

John lewis sales hit a record yday, bodes good for MKS

[robertfaulkner] 28/11/2012 15:52

RNS in News above


28 November 2012
Marks and Spencer Group plc Announces Funding Plan
for its UK Defined Benefit Pension scheme
Marks and Spencer Group plc ("the Company") today announces that it has reached agreement with the Company's Pension Scheme Trustees on the terms of the triennial actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2012.
The valuation of the Company's UK defined benefit pension scheme ("Pension Scheme") at 31 March 2012 has resulted in a deficit of GBP290m. This represents a substantial reduction in deficit from GBP1.3bn as at 31 March 2009.
The improvement reflects the additional contributions made to the Pension Scheme following the 2009 valuation together with strong investment growth and sound risk management. The valuation is based on the same methodology adopted for the 2009 valuation but incorporates the latest asset values and revised assumptions in relation to longevity.

[inv] 28/11/2012 09:29

This pensions agreement opens the way for a takeover

[snatander] 14/11/2012 09:00

The directors have approved an interim dividend of 6.2p per share (last half year 6.2p per share) which, in line with the requirements of IAS 10 - 'Events after the
Reporting Period', has not been recognised within these results. This results in an interim dividend of £99.0m (last half year £97.6m) which will be paid on 11
January 2013 to shareholders whose names are on the Register of Members at the close of business on 16 November 2012. The ordinary shares will be quoted ex
dividend on 14 November 2012.



Lovely 6.2p dividend today

[libertine] 08/11/2012 08:10

08 Nov Marks & Spencer... MKS HSBC Overweight 389.90 384.50 350.00 450.00 Upgrades

[snatander] 08/11/2012 08:06

The directors have approved an interim dividend of 6.2p per share (last half year 6.2p per share) which,
in line with the requirements of IAS 10 - 'Events after the
Reporting Period', has not been recognised within these results. This results in an interim dividend
of GBP99.0m (last half year GBP97.6m) which will be paid on 11
January 2013 to shareholders whose names are on the Register of Members at the close of business on
16 November 2012. The ordinary shares will be quoted ex
dividend on 14 November 2012. Shareholders may choose to take this dividend in shares or in cash.





14 November and pick up divi for me

[spob] 06/11/2012 17:19

By the way you might like to read some books by Joel Greenblatt

Very successful money manager who adopts a similar approach in terms of looking at the TRUE price you are paying for your earnings

[spob] 06/11/2012 17:13

Ok spobs law of investing

[jeffian] 06/11/2012 17:08

OK, but don't call it a PER. Call it 'spob's law'!

[spob] 06/11/2012 17:00

I'm looking at the earnings yield from the enterprise value of the company

This is how I evaluate a truer picture of the price of a business

I know it's not perfect

But to me it's the only way to quickly assess the approximate value of a business before delving deeper into other fundamentals

15 times forward earnings including net debt is too much for me here given the low growth performance of mks

I don't need to delve deeper than that here, there are plenty of bargains around to keep me happy

[robertfaulkner] 06/11/2012 16:49

I've got the answer, get Bolland to announce a 10% drop in profits every day for 10 day and we get 100p on the share price (MKS share price + 10.8p today)

[essentialinvestor] 06/11/2012 10:22

He did not like Debenhams either and focussed on the debt, it's doubled since
and turned into a cash generation machine.

[jeffian] 06/11/2012 10:20

"true forward pe = 396 + 162 / 37 = 15.1"

No it isn't.

I can't make a great case for MKS at the moment, but that is on fundamentals and particularly that they seem to have lost their way a bit in deciding where they sit in the retail market and what their customer base is. However, spob, your comments just show your obsession with debt. You don't like it. Fair enough; stay away from any company which is debt-financed. However, not only is your 'formula' in 3097 not recognisable in any form as a PER, it isn't even comparing like with like. 396 is the share price. That is the arbitrary figure assigned by the market at any given moment to the total corporate entity including its assets, liabilities (debts) and a judgement of the worth of its current and future profits. 162 is the debt which should be offset not against the share price, but against the equivalent assets in the Balance Sheet. Thus the £2.6bn debt is counterbalanced by a total of £7.5bn assets of which £5bn are 'real' assets.

The question, as at ETI, remains 'what do you consider to be the "right' level of debt and why?', but it is one you always seem to duck.

[spob] 06/11/2012 09:49

I guess the only thing holding up the share price here is the dividend yield.

with such high levels of net debt, should MKS be paying any dividends at all ?

not in my opinion

[spob] 06/11/2012 09:37

the flat performance here does not justify such a high share price, given the huge net debt

true forward pe = 396 + 162 / 37 = 15.1



target price 200p

[spob] 06/11/2012 09:26

2.6bn debt here = 162p per share

that's too much, 41% of market cap

EV = 558p per share


share price 396p

mcap 6356m


eps forecast to end mar 14 = 37p

y2 = 4.7%, 18.48p

[mike24] 17/10/2012 10:18

100,000 customers defect to co-op bank
M&S bank taking record receipts to their 1/2/3yr bond which can work out
to a few days penalty interest on withdrawal 3yr bond depending on deposit
up to six months penalty with b/S up to 12 months with banks (bonds)
with a lot more potential in their financial services
dealing with right age group of customers with no/less debts and more spending
power casino's give a no profit currency exchange rate to bring business in
M&S could do the same, sainsbury financial services are a shambles by comparison
nai
edit 19/2/ 13 drive to get more banking business going well

the chart still looking good

[sandbank] 10/9/2012 08:18

SPOB: Would you care to elaborate on that last point?