Marks & Spencer (LON: MKS) shares rose on Wednesday after the retail giant posted full-year results that impressed investors, despite a significant hit from a cyber attack that disrupted trading for much of the first half of its financial year.
Shares in the FTSE 100 retailer were up around 1% in early trading at 329.9p, with the stock touching an intraday high of 344.9p, as investors welcomed signs that the business had weathered the cyber incident and was returning to growth.
M&S reported adjusted profit before tax of £671.4m for the 52 weeks ended 28 March 2026, down 23.8% year-on-year but ahead of Shore Capital’s forecast of £655m. Statutory profit before tax fell 28.8% to £364.6m.
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The results reflected what chief executive Stuart Machin described as “a year of two halves” — with heavy disruption in the first half followed by a return to profit growth in the second, with H2 adjusted profit up 4.1% on the prior year.
Food was the standout division, with sales rising 7.0% to £9.7bn as the retailer attracted over 800,000 new shoppers and grew its market share to 4.1%. Fashion, Home & Beauty was harder hit, with sales down 7.7%, though the business saw modest second-half sales growth as online trading was restored. The board proposed a full-year dividend of 4.2p per share, an increase of 16.7%.
Looking ahead, M&S guided for profit growth to resume versus 2024/25, with capital expenditure of £650m–£750m planned for the coming year, weighted heavily towards Food.
Shore Capital analyst Clive Black described M&S equity as “fundamentally undervalued,” following the results, with the stock trading on just 10x forward earnings — a “quite considerable discount” to peers such as Next, Sainsbury and Tesco.
The analyst flagged “quite considerable rating expansion potential” as the retailer returns to sequential EPS growth.
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