- Marks & Spencer Returns to FTSE 100 After Four Years
- Share Price Increase of Over 75% in 2023 Attributed to Revamp
- Retailer’s Turnaround Strategy and Positive Momentum Acknowledged
Marks & Spencer returned to the FTSE 100 index after four years due to a share price gain.
In 2019, M&S was removed from the index due to declining sales and intense competition.
Its share price has risen over 75% this year thanks to a retail and apparel makeover.
Stuart Machin, chief executive officer, stated that it was a “reflection” of their “hard work.”
Mr. Machin continued, “We simply need to get down to business and maintain our positive momentum.
According to analysts, M&S has accomplished a “remarkable” turnaround despite rising consumer prices.
The retailer informed investors earlier this month that its interim results, which will be released in November, will demonstrate “a significant improvement” in performance.
Susannah Streeter, the director of money and markets at the brokerage firm Hargreaves Lansdown, stated, “Reducing its estate and closing larger stores in town centers has also been profitable.”
The FTSE 100 is comprised of the 100 greatest UK-listed companies by market capitalization. M&S was a founding member of the blue-chip index, which is prestigious.
A few firms enter and many laggards fall to the lower-tier FTSE 250 when the index is reshuffled four times a year.
Persimmon, a homebuilder, and Abrdn, an investment manager, are among the companies demoted.
M&S, for instance, has plans to substantially increase the number of external clothing brands it sells online to lure customers away from High Street competitors Next and John Lewis and has already begun stocking products from Crew Clothing, Nobody’s Child, and Joules.
Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, stated, “M&S’ return to the FTSE 100 after four years will be viewed by some as a validation of the turnaround strategy initiated by Steve Rowe and then executed by his successor, Peter Machin.”
The food business has continued to perform well, “aided in part by the affluent clientele it serves.” While the clothing business has received a “much-needed boost from the team brought in from Philip Green’s defunct Arcadia empire.”
