Berenberg 'Remains Constructive' on Marks & Spencer's Growth Plan Ahead of Fiscal H1 Results

04:42 AM EDT, 09/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg said Thursday it "remains constructive" on Marks & Spencer Group's (MKS.L) growth strategy ahead of the British retailer's fiscal first-half report due Nov. 4. According to the research firm, it sees potential opportunities in M&S Food, Ocado Retail, and online Fashion, Home & Beauty. Analysts added that their projected fiscal first-half adjusted pretax profit of 394 million pounds sterling points to a "strong recovery" after last year's cyber incident, albeit 3% below the level posted two years ago. "We estimate a strong increase in Food profit, up 21% versus H1 two years ago, but a 26% decrease in Fashion, Home & Beauty profit in the same period. We think that the main shortfall is in womenswear due to execution reasons that can be traced back to the cyber-attack. Nevertheless, we raise our FY 2027E UK retail EBIT estimate slightly, even if our EPS estimate comes down by 4% due to downward revisions in the International and finance charge lines," the note said. Against this backdrop, Berenberg maintained its buy rating and price target of 4.80 pounds on the stock. The research firm also lifted its sales and EBIT projections for fiscal 2027 through 2029, while cutting its EPS assumptions for the same three-year period.