British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer said on Tuesday its ambition is to achieve mid-to-high single-digit sales growth over the medium term, with profit growth ahead of sales.
M&S is hosting a Capital Markets Day. Below are the targets it will set out:
- For food, the targets are to double sales over time, having grown annual sales by more than 50% since FY22, continue to gain market share, and deliver an operating margin of around 5%
- For fashion, home and beauty, it is targeting online participation towards 50% with 180 highly productive stores, while continuing to gain market share and delivering operating margins of more than 10% in both channels
- For its international division, it wants to build a more global M&S brand presence through capital-light channels
- Delivering these ambitions will require continued investment in the M&S proposition and the transformation of its end-to-end operating model, with the aim of driving productivity and operating leverage as the business grows
- M&S is on track to achieve its structural cost reduction objective of £600 million ($807 million) by FY28
- With free cash flow expected in each of the next three years, M&S can invest for growth while increasing returns to shareholders
- Maintaining a strong balance sheet and investment-grade credit rating remain priorities
- M&S’ full-year 2026/27 dividend will double to 8.4 pence from 4.2 pence. Thereafter, it is intended that dividends will grow at least in line with earnings
- Last week, M&S said its first-half profit rebounded from last year’s cyberattack-hit level but was down on a two-year basis as strong earnings from food failed to fully offset weakness in clothing
Source:
Reuters
