Mike Ralston, CEO of Blencowe Resources (BRES) and Manuel Pablo Zúñiga-Pflücker, President and CEO of PetroTal (PTAL) will be presenting and taking live Q&A at focusIR's Investor Webinar on Tuesday 25th February. Please register here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE
Sponsored Content
Don't want ads? Click here
Sponsored Content
Don't want ads? Click here

Pin to quick picksMarks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

Share Price Information for Marks & Spencer (MKS)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 353.80
Bid: 351.90
Ask: 352.20
Change: 2.40 (0.68%)
Spread: 0.30 (0.085%)
Open: 353.10
High: 354.20
Low: 348.50
Prev. Close: 351.40
MKS Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Timelines are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

TOP NEWS: UK grocery sales up as Christmas spending comes "early"

Tue, 12th Nov 2024 09:18

(Alliance News) - UK grocery sales spiked as trips to supermarkets hit the highest level since the onset of Covid, numbers from Kantar showed on Tuesday.

"Christmas came early" for grocers, Kantar explained, with holiday staples such as mince pies and Christmas cake flying off the shelves. There was also a Halloween "galvanising sales".

UK grocery sales in the 12 weeks to November 3 rose 2.3% to GBP34.01 billion from GBP33.25 billion a year prior. In the final four weeks of the survey, sales were up 2.0% to GBP11.6 billion, the best month so far this year.

Trips to supermarkets during the four weeks hit a four-year high of 480 million, "the highest since pre-pandemic", Kantar said.

"Halloween played a part in galvanising sales and there are signs that some consumers are looking further ahead in the calendar, starting their Christmas shopping early," Kantar analyst Fraser McKevitt said.

"Many of us got into the spooky spirit last month, as 3.2 million households bought at least one pumpkin. Confectionery spending also got a boost to GBP525 million in October as sales of chocolates and sweets both went up, climbing by 13% and 7% each."

McKevitt continued: "What's interesting this month is the number of households who are already stocking up the cupboards for the big day in December. Some people think Christmas ads hit our screens too soon but it's clearly important for retailers to set out their stalls early. 648,000 shoppers have already bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4% of households picked up mince pies in October. With Black Friday on the horizon, the grocers will be hoping to capture a slice of the action there too."

Grocery price inflation picked up slightly to 2.3% during the for the final four weeks of the period, from 2.0% for the four weeks to September 29. The rate of inflation has sat below 3.0% since the "early summer".

Kantar said Tesco PLC sales rose 4.6% on-year to GBP9.49 billion during the 12 weeks, with its market share climbing to 27.9% from 27.3%, cementing its status as top dog.

The fastest-growing retailer, however, was Ocado. Ocado sales rose 9.5% to GBP611 million and its market share improved to 1.8% from 1.7%. Online-only Ocado is a joint-venture between Ocado PLC and Marks & Spencer Group PLC.

Kantar added: "With sales up by 7.4%, Lidl was the fastest growing retailer with a bricks and mortar presence for the 15th period in a row, continuing this run into a second year. It secured 326,000 additional shoppers this period, more than any other retailer, and saw particularly strong fresh produce sales growth at 22%."

Lidl's market share improved to 7.7% from 7.4%. Fellow discounter Aldi saw its market share remain unmoved at 10.4%, however. Aldi remains the fourth most popular UK grocer by market share. It dislodged Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd from that position back in 2022.

J Sainsbury PLC sales rose 4.4% during the 12 weeks, with its market share improving to 15.5% from 15.2%.

Tesco shares were down 1.0% early Tuesday in London, while Sainsbury's was 0.5% lower. Ocado was down 3.2% and M&S fell 2.1%.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

More News
19 Sep 2024 07:14

Ocado lifts full-year guidance as Q3 revenues jump

(Sharecast News) - Online grocer and logistics group Ocado has upgraded its revenue guidance for its retail division following a strong third-quarter performance which saw revenues jump as both customer numbers and the number of orders rose.

Read more
19 Sep 2024 07:06

UK's Ocado Retail lifts guidance on customer growth

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - British online supermarket Ocado Retail lifted its guidance for its 2023-2024 year after reporting a 15.5% increase in revenue in its latest quarter that reflected growth in customer numbers. (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Holton)

Read more
18 Sep 2024 15:03

London close: Stocks slip ahead of much-awaited Fed decision

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed lower on Wednesday, as investors digested the latest UK inflation figures and looked ahead to the US Federal Reserve's policy announcement later in the day.

Read more
18 Sep 2024 08:00

UK supermarket sales growth slows after summer holidays

UK supermarket sales up 4% in four weeks to Sept. 7

*

Read more
17 Sep 2024 09:50

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Berenberg, Peel cut TT Electronics to 'hold'

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Tuesday morning and on Monday:

Read more
16 Sep 2024 17:03

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Dollar softens as market weighs Fed rate options

(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 nudged higher late on Monday while the dollar flagged, as bets rose that the US Federal Reserve could deliver a jumbo sized interest rate cut on Wednesday.

Read more
16 Sep 2024 17:01

FTSE 100 rises ahead of key central bank meetings

FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 up 0.2%

*

Read more
16 Sep 2024 15:30

London close: Stocks manage gains ahead of key rate decisions

(Sharecast News) - London stocks closed slightly above the waterline on Monday, as investors exercised caution ahead of key interest rate announcements scheduled across the globe later in the week.

Read more
16 Sep 2024 14:46

Broker tips: Marks & Spencer, JTC

(Sharecast News) - RBC Capital Markets lifted its price target on Marks & Spencer on Monday to 400p from 350p as it raised estimates on the 'outperform' rated stock, pointing to sales momentum and the recent re-rating of the UK food retail sector.

Read more
16 Sep 2024 09:39

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Deutsche Bank cuts Fevertree price target

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Monday morning and on Friday:

Read more
16 Sep 2024 08:26

RBC Capital lifts Marks & Spencer target price

(Sharecast News) - RBC Capital Markets lifted its price target on Marks & Spencer on Monday to 400p from 350p as it raised estimates on the 'outperform' rated stock, pointing to sales momentum and the recent re-rating of the UK food retail sector.

Read more
11 Sep 2024 12:26

Investors call on UK's largest firms to give shareholders climate vote

(Alliance News) - A group of investors has urged most of the UK's largest listed companies to provide shareholders with a vote on their climate transition plans.

Read more
10 Sep 2024 08:47

TOP NEWS: UK grocery price inflation ebbs as Ocado leads sales rose

(Alliance News) - UK grocery price inflation resumed its slowdown, while Ocado delivered its quickest rate of growth since May 2021, figures on Tuesday showed.

Read more
25 Aug 2024 21:27

Sunday newspaper round-up: Hezbollah, Economic pain, Wealth tax

(Sharecast News) - Approximately 100 Israeli fighter jets launched strikes on around 270 targets located in over 40 southern Lebanese towns and villages. The set of strikes was one of the biggest between the two sides since fighting resumed in October. The bulk of the strikes were against short-range rocket launchers that could be used to hit northern Israel. In response, terrorist group Hezbollah fired over 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 military targets inside Israel. Most projectiles were stopped or hit open areas. - The Sunday Times

Read more
21 Aug 2024 08:00

Sun and holidays boost UK supermarket spending but Asda struggles, says NIQ

UK supermarkets enjoy best growth in sales this year, says NIQ

*

Read more

Free Investment Tools

Register for FREE

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.