Marks & Spencer’s half year results – here’s what to look out for November 4, 2014 Marks & Spencer is due to report its first half results tomorrow morning, and the consensus is that it will be another gloomy one for the venerable British retailer. Analysts are saying the 770-store retailer will have racked up a 3.7 per cent decline in general merchandising like-for-likes during its second quarter. If [...]
Marks and Spencer likely to join Next and Tesco in slump as like-for-like sales decline November 3, 2014 The slump in British retail is set to hit Marks and Spencer hard this week, after poor financial results from rival Next and supermarket Tesco. Weak sales figures will pile increasing pressure on chief executive Marc Bolland – like-for-like sales have already fallen for the past 13 quarters, despite the growing economic recovery. The consensus [...]
Marks & Spencer finance boss Alan Stewart joins Tesco two months early following £250m profit overestimate September 23, 2014 Alan Stewart will assume his new role as chief financial officer of Tesco from today – over two months earlier than originally planned. Yesterday, the troubled retailer reported it had overstated its first-half profit expectations by £250m, leading to its biggest share price fall in 11 years. In July Stewart announced his plan [...]
Marks & Spencer’s clothing sales through Alibaba soar in China September 21, 2014 Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant which could hold the title of having the world’s biggest ever initial public offering after raising $21.8bn on Friday, has helped to boost Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) online clothing sales in China. The head of M&S’s overseas internet business, Ricky Wilson, said on Saturday that M&S is now the fastest [...]
Marks & Spencer opens across Finland and Norway as part of European expansion September 17, 2014 Marks and Spencer is set to open its first shop in Scandanavia next month as it marches ahead with its European expansion. The high street retailer said yesterday it will open 15 franchise stores across Finland and Norway, with the first shop set to open in Helsinki next month. The 32,000 square feet store will [...]
Next profits to speed ahead of M&S yet again July 29, 2014 CLOTHING chain Next yesterday hiked its full-year profit forecasts for the second time in three months after another strong quarter, placing it further in the lead against rival Marks & Spencer. The retailer, which has 700 stores in the UK and overseas, raised its pre-tax profit guidance for this year by £25m to between £775m [...]
Marks & Spencer boss Alan Stewart jumps ship for Tesco after sales drop July 10, 2014 Alan Stewart, chief financial officer at Marks & Spencer, is leaving the struggling retailer for supermarket giant Tesco, it was announced yesterday. Stewart will fill former Tesco CFO Laurie Mcllwee’s shoes at the retailer, where his pay packet is set to rise from £579,000 to £750,000 a year. Mcllwee stepped down from his role at Tesco [...]
Marks & Spencer asks for more time as new website hits sales July 8, 2014 Marks and Spencer boss Marc Bolland yesterday called for more time for the effects of the retailer’s website overhaul to take effect after the high street stalwart posted its 12th consecutive quarter of falling non-food sales. The 130-year-old retailer broke away from its technology supplier Amazon and launched its own custom-built £150m website in February, [...]
The Marks & Spencer AGM: Shareholders vent frustration as promises fail to deliver July 8, 2014 “We'll be home by Christmas!” That tragically optimistic prediction made by soldiers marching off to war in 1914 jumped to mind yesterday when Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland stood up in front of shareholders at a hall within Wembley Stadium and pledged to have the website returning to growth in time to enjoy [...]
London Report: Airline decline and M&S worries keep the FTSE in the red July 8, 2014 A PROFIT warning from Air France-KLM yesterday hit airline stocks and dragged the FTSE down by more than one per cent. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 1.25 per cent, or 85.06 points, to 6,738.45 points. International Consolidated Airlines Group – the owner of British Airways – slumped seven per cent to 335.90p, the worst-performing [...]