M&S faces exit from FTSE 100 for first time ever, share price falls

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 2, 2019

Marks & Spencer shares dipped 1% on Monday on expectations that the 135-year old retailer will be kicked out of London's blue-chip stock market index for the first time ever as part of the FTSE 100's quarterly review.

Enthusiasm for the shares was also dented by the fact that Goldman Sachs reinstated its coverage of the stock with a 'sell' rating. At 08:33 GMT, the shares were down 1%, while the index as a whole was up 0.9%. But at least the shares remained higher than the five-year low they hit back in August.

In a sign of the times as retail struggles, M&S shares, which have been part of the FTSE 100 since it began in 1984, have lost about 40% of their value since January 2018 as the firm's long-running turnaround story seemed to have no happy ending in sight.

The FTSE 100 review will be based on closing prices on Tuesday, with the results being announced after trading closes on Wednesday afternoon and going into effect on September 23. 

It may not seem particularly important to some, but being part of the FTSE 100 really is a big deal. Many pension funds invest in FTSE 100 shares and individual investors buy funds that track the index, making the shares of its members more popular and boosting its market capitalisation.

But M&S’s top management isn’t expressing any concern about its relegation. Chairman Archie Norman said: “When I went to ITV we dropped out of the FTSE 100, the sky didn’t fall in.”