Marks & Spencer share price: Retailer’s banking arm to introduce mortgages
Marks & Spencer Group’s (LON:MKS) banking unit is taking on the main high street banks and lenders by launching its first mortgages early next year, the Guardian has reported. The move will see M&S Bank compete with Tesco’s (LON:TSCO) and Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) banking divisions by offering home loans at ‘competitive rates’.
Marks & Spencer’s share price has slipped marginally lower in London in today’s session, having lost 0.26 percent to 345.80p as of 15:32 BST, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.12 percent higher at 7,531.87 points. The group’s shares have added more than two percent to their value over the past year, but are down by a little over one percent in the year-to-date.
M&S Bank to launch mortgages
The Guardian reported today that M&S Bank had said that it was bringing its brand to the world of home loans. While the rates have not yet been specified, the bank has said that its deals will be available to first-time buyers and home movers, and that it is promising “competitive rates across a range of terms”. Full details will be available in the new year.
“Many of our customers have shopped with M&S their whole lives, feeling the comfort of the brand at every key life event,” the challenger lender’s chief executive Sue Fox said, as quoted by the newspaper. “We’re now in a position to support our customers with the biggest financial decision they’ll ever make – their home.”
M&S’, however, is not the only major retailer in the mortgage market, with both Sainsbury’s Bank and Tesco Bank having already entered the sector.
Analysts on Marks & Spencer
Deutsche Bank reiterated its ‘hold’ rating on the blue-chip retailer this week, without specifying a price target on the shares. According to MarketBeat, Marks & Spencer currently has a consensus ‘hold’ rating and an average price target of 355.62p.
As of 15:52 BST, Friday, 20 October, Marks and Spencer Group Plc share price is 347.10p.
