We would love to hear your thoughts about our site and services, please take our survey here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Hugely overdone now.
Be thankful for (very) small mercies I guess.
Hello jimjam
I guess your experiences with Waitrose in Henley sums up the sort of mess that Waitrose is in.
It certainly begs the question - if they cannot get it right in Henley, where can they get it right.
I am quite sure that M&S would jump at the chance if they could get the site, especially as it comes with parking.
Look after the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves. Better buy JDW. JJ
Paid tomorrow! Let’s rejoice in that!
One of the reasons that M&S appealed to me was the fact that the CEO previously made a point under the ongoing plan to move less profitable stores off the High Street and into local retail areas where parking is easily available. One store saw a 100% rise in profits through such a move move - a no brainer. I do like Waitrose but do find them expensive. Their cafes and the fare they offer could be better too.
Always buy on dip. The update was good enough. So, I just bought 3k more shares at 263.3. GLA
Hi Chilting I can offer a survey of one, me. Henley Waitrose is a 'tired store' but is well used because the car park is inexpensive, and allows you to park free for one hour. The store is next to the well respected Regal Cinema, with a public library at the other end of the car park. The nearest M&S is 10 miles away in Reading, High Wycombe, or food in Marlow. The Tesco is one mile away with free parking, and a car wash on site. I have noticed some of my neighbours who have been shopping in the Waitrose now also use the Tesco. The freshness of the veg in Tesco is much better than Waitrose with a much better choice.
Henley is one of 4 Waitrose stores that I use from time to time. Henley is the least satisfactory which suggests to me that it is being run down to be sold off. The same happened in Marlow, which is now a very smart Lidl. Sorry if all the detail proves boring but I care about retail and believe the customer is all important deserving of the best possible service and product. JJ
I agree with jimjam that it would be good to get hold of Waitrose sites like Henley, but I guess they won't want to sell their crown jewels only the rags.
Its probably better to go out of town with abundant free parking, as M&S have been doing, in the profitable locations like Henley, if sites are available.
Henley also has a big Tesco, it would be interesting to know if customers are drifting from Waitrose to Tesco to sample their Taste the Difference range in such an up market area.
I live with hope JJ, at my age you have to! I remember us all staring 79p sp in the face not that long ago and it’s hope then that got us through those days. It is hope we live in health too.
You were correct with the 5%, well done JJ! You got what you predicted.
But it is short term and wording in trading updates that matters and we can’t always predict that.
I hope for good because what occupies our minds most becomes reality in my experience. I hope for less rain so my saplings have strong roots too, as I also hope for more land))
Oh dear Neil, you are basing your strategy on 'hope'. Yesterday I indicated the share could drop 3/5% and is currently exceeding that. I am still thinking M&S has done ok but they are going to need to work harder and smarter in the coming year to produce outstanding performance.
Waitrose have published the fact that they are planning to sell some of their stores. I believe MKS should cherry pick the ones that will fit with their strategy and go for it. The link between Waitrose and JL is not that strong and the latter needs funds to follow their stated strategy. JJ
Let’s hope US inflation at 2.30pm is continuing its drop.
Good that Mks didn’t focus on any full year profits in the current economic climate, it wouldn’t go down too well, instead Mks have focused on increasing its competitiveness.
Mks have pleased more customers than last year and I believe looked after them very well, critical to the year ahead.
Finest +17% is impressive at Tesco and I see others are copying Mks too, the thing to remember though is new products are nearly 40% of Mks product range, they barely move on finest. New lines are the lifeblood of +LfL
Which is comparable to Sainsbury who have a Mcap 1.5b above ours. Bring it on, traders can have today for we're here for tomorrow
The real prize is;
Analysts currently expect adjusted pretax profit for the year to come in at 663 million pounds ($846 million), up from 482 million pounds in 2022/23. That will give us an increased mcap thro circa 13.5X
We shouldn't lose sight that these are good strong figures, particularly considering the climate and factors out of our control. The numbers aren't perhaps as excellent as we or the market were expecting, we got excited and ahead of ourselves, let's not forget we're potentially looking at one of the most profitable years in a decade. Equally we're still up 20% since before mid year report only 2 months ago.
Debate as you will but I'm out for the day so will read later. My personal debate as is the case with any calender event or price point is..do I sell and put in a savings account to get 5% over the next 12mths or do I expect a better return staying put...no consideration need..that was easy. £3 by May or my names not Fforestgwmp
Gla.
JJ hi,
It’s easy to forget in q3 2022 inflation on food alone was +10.4% and yet Mks has put on another +9.9% LfL on top of that period in 2023, I’d call that impressive. Food inflation is 6.7% now.
International I agree is a surprise, and the upside is its mostly third party property assets, so low cost operations.
Agree with the Waitrose shops goodwill and it’s a great pity we can’t do that, however there’s pride at stake for JL and overall worth for them. Their strategy undoubtedly will change and they could come back stronger.
Let’s rejoice in the news we have Waitrose food market share matched even before Ocado JV news! Rejoice !
I agree, well deserved.
Could we have a debate here? The figures today are not so impressive when inflation is taken into account? Our clothing performance can be compared with NXT hence scope for improvement? TSCO managed to steer their customers toward more profitable products, possibly at the expense of M&S? International is a distraction/liability. MKS should offer to buy some of the Waitrose stores; not wait until they are put on the market but be proactive. I have in mind the store in Henley on Thames. My view is that we should be more demanding of MKS. In the last week my email inbox has been inundated with M&S promotions which suggests to me that the bod realise that their performance has not been 'excellent'. JJ
Ocado Retail is the key for M&S to increase market share in food, simply because it enables them to increase the range.
Having the duel market place enables increase in volume orders from suppliers that gives more attractive margins created by economies of scale.
Customers will soon be able to do all their food shopping for the week at M&S.
We should also see Ocado Retail recording a small profit next Tuesday.
I am delighted most of all that finally the staff who worked through the covid, and invested in the then cheap shares are rewarded! Great job.
Marks & Spencer has said more than 9,200 shop workers are set to get bumper payouts under a share scheme as it revealed a jump in festive sales.
The high street stalwart said employees – mostly customer service assistants – who put a typical £150 a month into its 2020 share save scheme will gain more than £10,000 when it pays out on February 1.
Very good point Chilting and that will probably edge Mks over the Waitrose market share! Avocado dip brigade will be choking.
Clearly an excellent Christmas trading period for M&S, even if some of the higher expectations wen't met.
This is only part one though, we still await the Ocado Retail results - due on Tuesday 16th Jan.
Its interesting to note how normally sane investors and traders turn into sheep on results day.
I agree. Oversold this morning. Blue by pm imo.
Recovering now. 5% overdone. I can see this getting back to 270 today and that becoming support. Results are good, SP taking a breather after a great run...nothing to see apart from a great company with a bright future.