Marks & Spencer, JD Wetherspoon and esure

“Blue-chips opened in negative territory after US and Asian markets offered limited positive support overnight,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Marks & Spencer’s shares slipped back in early trading after a 5.3% fall in pre-tax profits. M&S is making progress on its turnaround plan with encouraging results from its clothing & home business. But the group has been increasingly reliant on food sales in recent years and it will have to address stronger headwinds it now faces in that business. It also still has many structural issues to tackle in a very challenging retail and consumer environment. The group’s shares were down by more than 1.4%.

“Pub group JD Wetherspoon was an early riser after like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 29 October rose by 6.1% and it maintained its expectations for full year operating margins. In contrast to many of his peers, chairman Tim Martin believes the UK will get the lowest food prices without a deal with the EU. He sees no ‘cliff edge’ and insists Wetherspoon is ready to leave the EU now. Wetherspoon’s shares were up by over 1.1%.

“Insurance group esure’s shares rose after it raised its full year guidance following a record quarter. The group’s business continues to grow strongly with the number of in-force polices up 10.4% to 2.324 million in the first nine months of the year. This puts the group on track to meet its target of having 3 million in-force policies by 2020. esure’s shares were up by more than 3.8%.”

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