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First half-year results for the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2023
- Revenue at £6.13bn against £5.54bn for same period in 2022
- Profit after tax of £207m compared with £167m in six months to 1 October 2022
- Dividend per share of 1p (no equivalent paid in 2022)
- Company warns of an uncertain environment and says H1 results will have the most bearing on full year profits, announced in 2024.
Marks and Spencer Group PLC is a UK-based business involved in food, clothes and home retailing.
The company’s main divisions are Clothing & Home, Food, International and Ocado Retail.
Clothing & Home includes the selling of women’s wear, menswear, kids’ wear, and home products through UK retail stores and online. Food covers results of the UK retail food business, UK food franchise operations, and UK supply chain services.
The international division consists of M&S-owned businesses in Europe and Asia plus international franchise operations.
M&S also holds a 50% interest in Ocado Retail, a joint venture with Ocado combining M&S brand, food quality and innovation with proprietary technology delivering goods to customers at home.
Here’s what you need to know about buying and selling Marks and Spencer shares.
Why own stocks and shares?
It’s worth asking yourself why you want to buy shares. Are you looking for capital growth, income from dividends, or a combination of both? Your investment objective will determine what type of shares you invest in, from high-growth technology shares to more ‘defensive’ companies with a reliable income dividend stream.
Most investors look for sound fundamentals, including a track record of consistent earnings growth, a strong market position, or products and services with growth potential. These should provide a solid platform for a share price increase.
That said, factors such as takeover rumours can drive up a company’s share price. Investors may also be attracted by recovery plays, with a depressed share price providing potential for a rebound.
How to buy M&S shares
There are several steps to take once you’ve satisfied yourself about the reasons for buying shares in a particular company.
Tax treatment depends on one’s individual circumstances and may be subject to future change. The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of tax advice.
Open an account
Whether you’re a seasoned share trader, or someone who is brand new to stock market-based investments, if you want to buy shares in M&S, you’ll need to open an account with a regulated brokerage.
Stockbroking services for DIY investors come in a range of guises – from online investing platforms to investment trading apps that work off a smartphone or tablet.
Before opening an account:
- keep your ultimate financial goals in mind
- be prepared to ride out stock market ups and downs
- aim to keep trading costs to a minimum
- remember that share investing can prompt tax charges, for example, when selling stocks.
Before buying shares, ask yourself:
- should I take professional financial advice?
- am I comfortable with the level of risk?
- what’s my budget?
- can I afford to lose money?
- do I understand the company in which I’m looking to invest?
- am I protected if my platform provider/advisor goes out of business?
Know where M&S shares are traded
The stock market ticker for M&S is MKS. The company is traded on the London Stock Exchange which is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4.30pm. M&S is a component of the FTSE 100 stock index of leading UK companies.
It should be possible to buy M&S shares through all UK-based brokerage accounts.
Do your research
To find out more about M&S, visit the company’s online investor relations page. When weighing up whether or not to buy shares in the company, it could be worth comparing M&S’s valuation to that of comparable rival companies. One way to do this is to look at relative price-earnings, or P/E, ratios. Shares trading on a high P/E suggest high expectations of substantial future growth.
Another useful research tool is brokers’ 12-month share price forecasts, available via online investing platforms. There are a number of brokers who follow M&S and their share price forecasts give an indication of the upside and downside potential of the share price over the coming year.
What is your investing strategy?
People tend to invest in one of two ways: either with a lump sum purchase, or via smaller, steadier amounts, over a period of time.
The latter benefits from a process known as ‘pound cost averaging’, an investing technique which helps investors pay less per share on average over time in falling stock markets. Rather than waiting to build up a lump sum, it also means an investor’s money can be put to use in the market straightaway.
On the downside, drip-feeding an investment may sacrifice investment growth if a stock’s price is rising and, depending on your broker/platform, you may also pay more in share trading fees.
Place an order
Once you’re ready to buy M&S shares, log in to your investing account or trading app. Type in the MKS ticker along with the number of shares you want to buy, or the amount of money you’re prepared to invest.
Some brokers allow their customers to add a ‘stop loss’ once they have bought the shares, allowing them to limit any losses should a share price fall.
Review M&S’s performance
Whether your share portfolio is crammed full of companies, or holds only a handful of stocks, it’s vital that you review how each component is performing on a regular basis: monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Doing this provides the opportunity to review performance and consider whether any adjustments to holdings are required, namely, to maintain the status quo, buy more shares, or sell existing stock.
How to sell shares
At some point, you might want to sell your holdings. To do this, log in to your platform, type in the M&S ticker and select the number of shares or amount you want to sell.
Note that if you’ve made a substantial profit and your holding was not ring-fenced in some way, say via a tax-efficient vehicle such as an individual savings account, then you might be liable for capital gains tax (CGT). The CGT tax-free allowance for the tax year 2023-24 is £6,000. This reduces to £3,000 for the tax year 2024-25, starting on 6 April 2024.
How to invest in M&S via a fund
Investing directly in shares can be an absorbing and, hopefully, profitable experience. It may also qualify you for shareholder perks specific to the company in question.
Investing directly in companies can, however, leave you vulnerable to stock market volatility and unforeseen swings in share prices.
That’s why financial experts recommend that most people invest in a diversified mix of asset classes and investment funds that hold ready-made portfolios of different company shares, often dozens or even hundreds at a time.
As a large UK multinational operation that’s part of the FTSE 100 index, M&S is found in many UK equity, index tracker and exchange-traded funds.
