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New £3 target from Barclays, thanks
So I've decided to dip my toe in again at 243 now that some of the macro negativity is behind us and the markets start looking forward again. Hopefully this will be the start of a new run upwards. My only doubts now are the views of the analysts covering retail. Some companies have gone down quite a bit lately so hopefully this might bring some oversold views. One thing that attracted me to M&S was news a couple of years ago about interest from the private equity company Apollo Global Management. When M&S appointed Cheryl Potter to the board last year this made my ears prick up. On her appointment, Archie Norman described her as "a superstar of the private equity world". I was already invested in M&S but I couldn't help thinking that maybe appointing a PE insider could help them get the best deal in the future. I'm probably totally wrong here but has anyone else thought about this?
Would need to fall below position 110 for automatic exit, currently an SP of around £1.65 for that to happen. Next key date for rebalancing is closing value on Tues 27 Feb.
Thank you
In rough figures we're currently about 80th on the list with Mcap £4.8bn, Ocado 9 places lower at £4.3bn and lowest value is EDV at £3.5bn. For automatic demotion at that Mcap our SP would be £1.77 but anything under £4bn or £2.03 would put us at risk - 20%+ drop from here, personally I dont see that happening.
Dose anyone know at what price point would we drop out of footie 100.?
GLA
I don't wish to be a monger of doom but in the absence of any other important news the next trading announcement is scheduled to be the FY 31st March results on 22 May, unless they issue a Y/E update around 31 March but they don't normally do that. Lots of time to drift in a vacuum...
And I don't wish to be a harbinger of doom either but it had a good 5/6 waves up in a 15 month uptrend before topping out, so due a retracement under normal market dynamics and also given the cautionary statements in the recent update, and that's actually often healthy for the long term.
But that's a horrid looking head and shoulders pattern just formed, very often consistent with a break of trend, and if it runs true to form then I have it completing at around 203, which will also close the gaps created on 15 Aug and 8 Nov last year. Yeah, I know, don't @ me about charts - they're just observations for consideration, I'm not going to insist they are right or argue them repeatedly as only time will tell. Best wishes with whatever investment decisions you make.
Currently down 17% from our recent high and only up 17% over six months in which we've massively increased sales, profit and re-entered the 100. I'm thinking over done and time to bounce, we'll maybe next week. On the plus side days are getting longer 🐣
Next support is around 235.5p area. Unfortunately we are heading down despite current rising sales volumes at stores compare to last year. Lets hope next trading announcement will bring reward for long term holders.
Price now is back to where it was in November 2023. The Christmas trading figures seem to be totally discounted now and seem to count for very little.
Share price has steadily fallen since results day. I accept other retailers share prices are also under pressure but this correction is pretty severe given the likelihood of excellent full years figures in May. A couple of institutional investors came on board at end of October & November no doubt with higher expectations of share price performance than is being evidenced
Testing the support area again today. Will see what tomorrow will bring to the SP.
Hennes & Mauritz fell on weaker than expected profits and its chief executive departed Plus SAYE staff share scheme matured and probably some profit taking ahead of tomorrow. The staff have earned that-well done to them😁
I certainly don't agree that MKS is overbought.
Its just the macro and general low sentiment that's holding back the SP.
In my view all the market is undervalued in London at the moment.
Therefore, the solid best buys have to be companies such as MKS and WTB that are doing well despite the macro.
When the market does improve these will be the first to gain and they probably will go overbought quite quickly as share prices rise.
Carrington, all good points to which I agree with. I just feel the SP is in a state of flux at the moment. I think there will be some weakness short term and it will be driven by the macro rhetoric around inflation and interest rates. I will be 100% jumping back in when I feel the herd mentality comes roaring back. I put 50% of the M&S sales in Microsoft which I think will smash it again this year. The Copilot for 365, which was launched only in November, is going to be a massive game changer and MCST is ahead of the game. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the results tomorrow. The other 50% is just there floating in the water waiting for a bite from a lower M&S SP ;-)
1ontheup - never wrong to take a profit so well done - personally I am selling nothing and will be looking to add on weakness, - momentum now firmly with MKS - they have captured market share in womanswear which is significant - they have also decimated the Waitrose offering - momentum is all and they have it big time now - inflation is falling in the UK and mortgage interest rates are also falling rapidly, add to this the fall in petrol prices, gas prices and food prices and some stellar wage rises that have now gone through - disposable income in the MKS demographic will be higher and augers well for MKS going forward - if it drops below 240p I will be adding with a 350p target
gla dyor etc
Whilst I've done well with M&S shares I decided to bail out selling 80% Jan 11th & the balance the 16th. I still believe in M&S but I think last year was full of positive sentiment (results, return to FTSE 100, inflation dropping, talk of rate cuts, Xmas where M&S normally outperforms etc) which I don't think will all flow through into this one, at least not until the FY results come out. International, although small, made a loss in the Xmas trading update, citing India as problematic. They have been investing heavily there recently and it's worth noting that the MD resigned after less than 2 years in the role. I hope I'm wrong but I think there will be more negative sentiment in the markets after the Fed & BoE meetings this week with inflation still sticky whilst pushing back any talk of rate cuts. Therefore I'm a watcher at the moment but keen to jump back in at the right time (which I'll probably get wrong ;-)
No she will probably get a bonus for thinking it up
GLA
The news earlier this week that JLP had cut their redundancy remuneration package in half, just after a group of senior executives left the sinking ship, is followed today by the news that JLP is considering cutting 11,000 jobs out of a workforce of 76,000.
We shouldn't gloat but JLP with Waitrose is M&S's main competitor.
I wonder if Dame Sharon's redundancy package will be reduced by 50%?
I agree Costa. Highly likely that management won't be upset if a number of people walk out the door, a cheap way of dropping the headcount in head office. The issue I have with this is that it's often the best people that leave first - the dross never go as they hang on as long as possible. Still, let's hope the effect is minor enough that it doesn't impact the company performance.
I’d imagine that attendance to work for those that work from home has been greater than that of those that go in office, so what have thought that absentee days would increase as result of this. Also would think that free hours that people who work from home will now not be inclined to do so productivity would decrease. I suspect that other factors in play for this kind of decision making. Maybe a cunning ploy by the board to reduce headcount in the office without having to pay redundancy costs. Perhaps short term pain for long term gain
🤞
You could argue that post COVID the company have let their employees choose where they work, and during this time we have enjoyed our most successful period in decades. If I were the CEO I’d probably not change anything like this without strong proof it makes a positive difference.
The OP is surely an M&S employee, given no posting history anywhere. Let’s hope we don’t lose key people - and I don’t mean upper management, who are likely already in the office a lot, or at least paid well enough that they won’t mind. But the people in the middle actually making the business hum.
I do t have a lot of experience in this type of culture change, but have done some reading and I wouldn’t say it’s positive news. Also wouldn’t expect it to impact company performance over the short and medium term. Long term who knows!
And the truth of the post...It's not based on any facts..
Gove will soon be Gone, one battle lost but the war can still be won.
Agree, prob because they know that the battle with Michael Gove is lost and now needs to pay the extortionate rent to force people into the office for little added valu