06 November 2024
If you are covering Marks & Spencer’s latest financial results, please find below a comment from Lucy Rumbold, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot:
“There is not much to dislike from Marks & Spencer’s results this morning as the business continues to execute its turnaround very well. The results were strong with the food division in particular delivering high sales growth – up 7.5% - and it continues to deliver good growth in its margins despite groceries being a high scale low margin game. For groceries M&S is currently in a sweet spot with consumer perception, where its customers do not have the spending constraints that are impacting the other supermarkets. With the run up to Christmas now in full effect, M&S has gathered momentum at just the right time.
“Clothing and home also performed well with like for like sales up 5.3%. The business continues to reinvest into this area, and management is showing no shortage of ambition to get every division firing on all cylinders. While there is no specific guidance, the mood music is very positive and with more still to fix within the business, growth opportunities remain very present.
“It has taken some time for M&S to right the ship, but we can firmly say that this has now happened and the company is on a good track to further growth. With budget speculation now over and the lucrative festive season in full swing, we see no reason why the positive momentum cannot continue.”
