SHARE OF THE WEEK: Marks & Spencer rejoins the FTSE 100
Marks & Spencer returns to the FTSE 100 next week after a four-year absence.
It’s the latest sign that the High Street favorite has regained its mojo.
M&S shares will rejoin the blue-chip index on Monday, having gained almost 80 per cent this year, valuing them at £4.3bn.
The return to the Footsie, after first being relegated in September 2019, comes amid a long-awaited recovery under chairman Archie Norman.
M&S’s revival is in stark contrast to the woes of John Lewis, which this week racked up half-year losses of £59m and warned its own recovery will take two years longer than expected.
John Lewis chairman Dame Sharon White said its recovery plan, which was launched in 2020, will not be complete until 2027-28.
M&S co-chief executives Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe outlined their plan to overhaul the company in May last year, building on the progress of former boss Steve Rowe.
Its plans got a big boost last month when the company released an unscheduled trading update that showed an 11 percent increase in food sales and a more than 6 percent increase in its clothing and home division.
That prompted M&S to raise its profit forecasts, prompting a flurry of upgrades from City analysts.
M&S was one of the founding members of the FTSE 100 in 1984, a century after Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer founded the company in Leeds.
