MARKS AND SPENCER (MKS).

Investors Chronicle, September, 2004

Marks and Spencer (M&S) is losing market share, according to confidential industry figures that were leaked last week. Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres conducts a monthly survey of shoppers, and its conclusions (which are never officially released) are that Asda has increased its share of the clothing market by volume from 7.3 per cent last year to 9.4 per cent, compared with M&S, whose market share has remained static at 9.1 per cent. But the figures are viewed with scepticism by many in the City, who point out that value rather than volume is what matters, especially in the summer - it is easy to shift thousands of low-margin t-shirts, but far harder to sell high-margin coats.

Investors will have to wait until 12 October to hear new chief...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.