M&S lifts guidance as food, clothing sales surge

by | Aug 15, 2023

(Sharecast News) – UK food, clothes and homewares retailer Marks & Spencer on Tuesday lifted guidance for half-year profits after strong sales growth in the first 19 weeks of its financial year.
In an unexpected market update, the company said like-for-like food sales grew more than 11% in the period as it “sharpened” prices on over 80 products in its ‘Remarksable Value’ lines designed to attract customers amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Like-for-like Clothing & Home sales grew more than 6%, with strong growth in stores, and more subdued growth in the online channel.

“Sell through rates have been robust and stock into sale was lower than planned,” M&S said in a statement, adding that group operating margin continued to be robust, driven by strong store performance and enhanced by its store rotation and renewal programme.

“There remain considerable uncertainties about the economic outlook, and there is a risk that the consumer market will tighten as the year progresses. Nevertheless, we now expect the outcome for the year to show profit growth on 2022-23, and the interim results to show a significant improvement against previous expectations,” M&S said.

House broker Shore Capital Markets said: “Noting ongoing uncertainty, keeping feet on the ground, and a favourable Q1 comparative, we upgrade FY24 profit before tax by 9% to £550m, we would expect consensus to follow.”

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

Related articles

RS Group surges on Betaville report

RS Group surges on Betaville report

(Sharecast News) - RS Group surged on Tuesday after markets blog Betaville pointed to "a fresh round of takeover speculation" in one of its latest uncooked alerts. Betaville said that people following the situation have heard rumours that RS Group, a distributor of...

Latest Articles

London close: Stocks mixed on global economic jitters

London close: Stocks mixed on global economic jitters

(Sharecast News) - Stocks in London ended Tuesday on a varied note, reflecting global apprehensions around the Chinese economy and rising interest rates, while the shadow of a US credit warning from Moody's loomed large. The FTSE 100 saw a modest uptick, finishing...

JP Morgan reaches settlement with US Virgin Islands over Epstein case

RS Group surges on Betaville report

(Sharecast News) - RS Group surged on Tuesday after markets blog Betaville pointed to "a fresh round of takeover speculation" in one of its latest uncooked alerts. Betaville said that people following the situation have heard rumours that RS Group, a distributor of...

Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley cut Burberry price targets

Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley cut Burberry price targets

(Sharecast News) - Luxury fashion brand Burberry took a hit on Tuesday as both Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank cut their price targets on the stock. DB cut the price target to 2,200p from 2,240p, saying it's more cautious on trends in China and in the US and is...

Join our mailing list

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive regular updates!

No Fields Found.
x