Updates

Marks & Spencer - Beats forecast; CEO more upbeat

December 2009

Investing in shares may lose you all or some of your money. Past performance is no indication of future performance. Some of the shares recommended here may be small company shares, which can be relatively illiquid and hard to trade and this makes such shares more risky than other investments.

Shares in M&S rose sharply after the firm unveiled first half results, which beat forecasts. For the six months to 26 September sales rose 2.8% to Â£4.3bn. while adjusted pretax profit was Â£298.3m, broadly the same as last year. In General Merchandise sales rose 1.7% as it maintained its market leading position in clothing by value and volume. While the weak pound has caused imported items to become more expensive, the group has mitigated this through better sourcing and tight controls over stocks and markdowns, which meant gross margins fell just 0.3%. Meanwhile, in the food division sales rose 1.8% and this side has now enjoyed four consecutive quarters of improved like-for-like sales. But competition remains fierce ...

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Marks & Spencer (August 2017)

Marks & Spencer - To close 53 international stores (January 2017)

Marks & Spencer - CEO review leads to eps downgrades (August 2016)

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Marks and Spencer - Shares hit new high of 577.5p (June 2015)

Marks & Spencer - Beats forecasts thanks to gross margin gains (December 2014)

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Marks & Spencer - High hopes for Autumn/Winter clothing range (August 2013)

Marks & Spencer - Food sales gain offset clothing decline (May 2013)

Marks & Spencer -Stronger Q2 heralds re-rating (December 2012)

Marks & Spencer - Pulls back sales growth targets (July 2012)

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Marks & Spencer - Net debt falles by Â£230m (December 2011)

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Marks & Spencer - Eps rises 16% (July 2011)

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Marks & Spencer - Shrugs off snow disruption (February 2011)

Marks & Spencer - Sound strategy unveiled (December 2010)

Marks & Spencer - Shares have gained 91% (November 2010)

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Marks & Spencer - Sharp fall in net debt (July 2010)

Marks & Spencer (May 2010)

Marks & Spencer - Tight stock control maintains margins (February 2010)

Marks & Spencer - Beats forecasts (November 2009)

Marks & Spencer - Improvement in underlying sales (August 2009)

Marks & Spencer (June 2009)

Marks & Spencer - Aggressive cost cutting (February 2009)

M&S - Interest rate cuts could galvanise shares from eight year lows (December 2008)

With small companies there is an above average degree of risk compared to buying blue chips. Please be aware that we have not assessed the suitability of any of these investments for you. The newsletter simply states a personal view and diarises the editor’s investment decisions. Please speak to your stockbroker or other qualified individual to ascertain whether any of these companies mentioned would form useful additions to your own portfolios. Past performance is no indication of future success.

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