Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[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

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 12:08

Yep tomorrow EI.

Quick stroll through M&S uxbridge this morning.

Six over 60`s browsing the ladies wear section.......food hall very busy.

[essentialinvestor] 06/1/2016 09:32

Thought the update was today for some reason, must have misread.

[philanderer] 06/1/2016 09:04

Better signs from JL this morning

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 20:38

EI , it`s all to do with the Amazon threat this year I`d have thought.

Homebase would be sold off .... again :-)

[essentialinvestor] 05/1/2016 14:29

You think the market can't surprise you any longer and then it does,
what are SBRY thinking.

[bracke] 05/1/2016 14:24

Sainsbury bid for Argos.

[rubberbullets] 05/1/2016 14:10

archie norman leaves ITV abd replaces bolland ?

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 13:56

He`s always wanted M&S but I doubt he`d offer more than 500p.

Bolland could be toast by thursday night.

[essentialinvestor] 05/1/2016 13:45

It would be one hell of a way to cap off his career,
we are a long way from there atm, may be a little closer tomorrow
if the update is even more dire than expected.

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 13:43

Hoping for Philip Green, but we`ll have to fall to 350p to get him interested again I reckon.

[essentialinvestor] 05/1/2016 13:22

LMAO, stop it!, made me laugh though )

Another slice of MKS cake coming up, already on my second one of the day, oh my.

[rubberbullets] 05/1/2016 13:07

bid from sainsburys?

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 10:25

M&S raises the stakes in battle over current accounts

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 09:59

Next’s poor performance bodes badly for Marks & Spencer




The disappointing performance from Next over the festive period will raise fears that other retailers will have fared even worse, particularly Marks & Spencer, which is due to update the market on Thursday. John Lewis reports on Wednesday.

[philanderer] 05/1/2016 09:48

Morning EI , NXT missing sales targets but profits within guidance . I reckon we`re priced in now.

Mild weather to blame apparently.

[essentialinvestor] 05/1/2016 08:10

phil, I went for RIO before yesterday's close and sold at the open.

Did not have the conviction to add here, thought my Thursday buy price
looked reasonable, now looking expensive atm, hey ho.

[philanderer] 04/1/2016 20:38

'Jigsaw shrugs off the winter gloom with rise in Christmas sales'

Fashion retailer criticises discounting by rivals for warping the high street

Jigsaw posted a 19pc rise in sales over the festive period as it brushed off complaints of a balmy winter that has punished its high street rivals.

The family-owned fashion chain reported a 12pc lift in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to 2 January, taking total sales to £14.2m over the period on the back of demand for faux-fur trimmed coats and cashmere pyjamas.

Peter Ruis, chief executive, said that the strong trading was testament to the retailer’s decision not to discount on Black Friday and focus on quality products. Instead, Jigsaw began offering discounts online on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

Larger fashion rivals Next and Marks & Spencer will update investors on their Christmas trading this week.

Analysts expect Next to have benefitted from its resistance to pre-Christmas discounting while Marks & Spencer's clothing department is expected to have suffered, with a 5.5pc fall in like-for-like sales forecast.

[philanderer] 04/1/2016 18:08

Not to worry EI , I added a few at 434.7p just before the close ;-)

[essentialinvestor] 04/1/2016 16:18

It looks like my thankfully modest trade has become an investment now,
could have been so much worse, dread to think.