M&S shares: Retailer set to take Christmas crown after bumper festive season
M&S will update investors on Christmas trading on Thursday as the high street darling is expected to once again dazzle markets with a stellar performance.
The supermarket has been on a winning streak ever since boss Stuart Machin launched a turnaround plan, which helped the retailer’s shares hit the highest level since 2019 at the end of last year.
Its reputation for being an upscale supermarket has not deterred shoppers from hitting the isles amid a national cash crunch, with food sales were up 11.7 per cent like-for-like during the half year.
Another feather was placed in the cap of the 100-year old chain when it climbed to the top of the FTSE 100 last week, thanks to BNP Paribas who said it would be a “likely Christmas winner” and a top performer this year.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “To examine whether the high street bellwether is maintaining its momentum, the first number to which analysts and investors alike will look is the total sales figure for the third quarter.
“A year ago, that came in at £3.6bn. Analysts will then assess the implied year-on-year growth rate in the headline sales figure and — more importantly — the like-for-like sales growth rate.”
He added: “M&S made £360m in underlying pre-tax profit in the first half and over the last ten years it has made an average of £100m more in the second half, thanks in part to Christmas.
“Should Mr Machin reference full-year forecasts, the consensus in the immediate wake of the interims was £650m in adjusted pre-tax profit (and £526m in stated profit), but those numbers look to have crept up by some £50m or so subsequently, to around £700m and £578m respectively.”
Rival supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s are also set to unveil their Christmas performances this week.
Sainsbury’s has also been one of the big winners over the Christmas period with the company’s market share hitting 15 per cent over the festive period, according to data from Kantar.
Demand for own label lines proved popular, with sales of its ‘Taste the Difference’ range up by 23 per cent year on year.
Tesco also increased its market share to 27.5 per cent following a growth in sales of 8.6 per cent during the term.