Marks & Spencer Group (LON: MKS) shares climbed on Wednesday after the FTSE 100 retailer delivered full-year results that came in ahead of market forecasts, despite a year severely disrupted by a cyberattack.
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 23.8% to £671.4m for the 52 weeks to 28 March 2026, but that comfortably beat Shore Capital’s forecast of £655m and the Visible Alpha consensus of £640.3m. Statutory pre-tax profit dropped further, falling 28.8% to £364.6m.
The numbers show a business hit hard in the first half before recovering in the second. Adjusting items of £292.1m included £131.3m of direct costs linked to the cyber incident, which forced M&S to suspend online clothing orders for seven weeks and pause click-and-collect services for nearly four.
Basic earnings per share declined 13% from 14.6p to 12.7p, while adjusted EPS dropped 25% to 23.8p – though again, the latter landed ahead of the 22.6p consensus.
Food remained the standout division, with sales up 7% to £9.7bn as the retailer attracted more than 800,000 new shoppers and grew its market share to 4.1%. Fashion, Home & Beauty bore the brunt of the disruption, with sales down 7.7% over the full year, while international sales slipped 7.2%.
At the group level, total sales climbed 24.8% to £17.37bn, a figure boosted by the consolidation of Ocado Retail into the business.
Critically for investor sentiment, second-half adjusted profit rose 4.1% year-on-year, as stronger food trading offset the ongoing weakness in fashion and homeware. Fourth-quarter trading proved particularly encouraging, with clothing like-for-like sales up 4.3% and food sales rising 6.8%, giving the business genuine momentum heading into the new financial year.
M&S raised its full-year dividend by 16.7% to 4.2p per share from 3.6p, including a final payout of 3.0p, signalling management confidence in the balance sheet and the outlook ahead.
The company expects adjusted pre-tax profit to resume growth in fiscal 2027 and surpass the £875.5m posted in the 12 months to March 2025 – itself the highest level in more than 15 years. Capital expenditure will step up to £740m for fiscal 2027, up from roughly £600m in fiscal 2026, with two-thirds directed at long-term growth in the food business.
Chief executive Stuart Machin struck an upbeat note, describing it as an “extraordinary year” for the business and saying the company came out stronger despite working through significant disruption.
M&S acknowledged headwinds from higher taxation, increased regulation and global uncertainty, but said it was “unshaken by short-term events” and had a clear investment plan covering supply chain modernisation, technology transformation and store expansion.
Shares in M&S were up around 5% during Wednesday’s session, touching an intraday high of 344.9p before settling back, as investors looked through the headline profit decline and focused on the second-half recovery and positive guidance for the year ahead.