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UK:M&S offers to buyback shares |
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2004-10-12
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Despite a reported run down in sales through the summer, Marks & Spencer announced a £2.3bn share buyback today.
The retailer offered tenders in the range of 332p and 380p per share, much below tycoon Philip Green’s offer of 400p per share during his vain take over bid of the ailing retailer two months back.
Stuart Rose, the chief executive, had promised the buyback to investors in return for their support against Green in July.
Mainstay of M&S, womenswear, lingerie and childrenswear in the 10 weeks to September 18 reportedly down. The company said product appeal was not sufficiently strong in these core areas, while home sales were particularly weak as the product was "too contemporary" for M&S customers.
Rose said trading had continued to be difficult in the last two to three months, but had shown some signs of improvement in the last two to three weeks before the start of the autumn.
He said it had been a "rather funny summer" with distractions from Green''s takeover bid not helping.
"We have seen this before, but we are where we are and I''m confident that the actions we have in place will start showing positives," he said.
While M&S underperformed, competitors such as clothing rival Next reported higher sales and profits while John Lewis said women''s fashion was one of its best-performing departments.
Waitrose supermarkets, part of the John Lewis group and M&S''s chief food rival, announced healthy growth in like-for-like sales of more than 3% on the last year. |
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