SHARE OF THE WEEK: Marks & Spencer rejoining FTSE 100

Marks & Spencer returns to the FTSE 100 next week after a four-year absence.

It is the latest sign that the High Street favourite has got its mojo back.

Shares in M&S will rejoin the blue chip index on Monday having gained nearly 80 per cent this year, valuing it at £4.3billion.

The return to the Footsie – after it was relegated for the first time ever in September 2019 – comes amid a long-awaited recovery under chairman Archie Norman.

M&S’s revival is in sharp contrast to the troubles at John Lewis, which this week racked up half-year losses of £59m and warned its own turnaround will take two years longer than anticipated.

John Lewis chairman Dame Sharon White said her turnaround plan, which was launched in 2020, will not be complete until 2027-28.

M&S co-chief executives Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe outlined their blueprint to overhaul the company in May last year as they built on the progress of former boss Steve Rowe.

Their plans received a major boost last month when the company published an unscheduled trading update that showed an 11 per cent jump in food sales and more than 6 per cent increase at its clothing and home division. 

That led M&S to raise its profits forecasts – triggering a flurry of upgrades from City analysts.

M&S was one of the founding members of the FTSE 100 in 1984 – a century after the company was set up by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds.