Marks & Spencer board considered break-up, decides against - report
04 NOV 2018
Marks & Spencer Group [LON:MKS] (M&S), a UK-based food and clothes retailer, has considered breaking itself up into two business but decided that doing so would not generate shareholder value, The Sunday Times reported. The newspaper did not cite a source for the information.
The M&S board is thought to have considered a split to be feasible, but thought that the company’s general merchandise business would not be attractive to investors as an independent entity, the item said.
M&S CEO Steve Rowe began looking at a potential break-up after taking up the position in 2016, according to the newspaper.
Separately, the report said M&S is likely to report a 2% fall in like-for-like food sales and a 1.2% fall in its clothing arm when it reports its interim results this week.
A Sunday Express report said M&S is expected to report a 0.7% increase in revenues to GBP 10.7bn and a 17.2% increase in pre-tax profits to GBP 138.6m.
Marks & Spencer Group’s market capitalisation stood at GBP 4.91bn at the close of trading in London on Friday, 2 November