Full Year 2026 Marks and Spencer Group PLC Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MAKSF) ended the year with a strong balance sheet, allowing for continued investment in growth and transformation.
- The company reported a significant increase in food sales, with a 7% growth in value and 3.3% in volume, driven by new product launches and investment in value.
- Ocado Retail, a joint venture, reported a 15% increase in sales, surpassing GBP1 billion in turnover for the first time.
- The company is making strategic investments in automation and technology, including a new fully automated distribution center, to improve efficiency and support growth.
- Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MAKSF) maintained its position as the UK's most trusted brand according to YouGov, reflecting strong customer loyalty.
- The company experienced a decline in Fashion, Home & Beauty sales by 7.7%, largely due to the impacts of a cyber incident that disrupted operations.
- Operating margins in Fashion, Home & Beauty fell significantly from 11.3% to 5.5%, reflecting lower sales and higher stock management costs.
- International sales were down 7.2%, with shipment delays and declines in owned and franchise stores impacting performance.
- The cyberattack resulted in GBP131 million in costs, affecting profitability and cash flow.
- Despite growth in the second half, the overall adjusted profit before tax declined year-on-year, highlighting ongoing challenges in recovering from the cyber incident.
Hello, and welcome to the Marks & Spencer 2026 annual results. Stuart Machin, our Chief Executive, is going to introduce the results. Alison Dolan, our Finance Director, will take you through the financial detail, and Stuart will then talk about the future.
Obviously, last year's figures were heavily colored by the incident that occurred in the early part of the year. And although it actually happened in April, the impact on our trading performance rolled on through much of the year, tapering towards the end and particularly affected Fashion, Home and Beauty.
So there's a limit to what you can read into the figures. The results are what they are. But adversity can make you stronger. And I feel that we came together through the year with common purpose that actually we continued the reshaping of the business, the investment, particularly in new stores and renewal stores.
And we ended the year with a very strong balance sheet. Our conviction is this business has not really delivered its
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