Some investors have warned that Marc Bolland who leads retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) will face renewed scrutiny if its Christmas and New Year trading figures to be released next week disappoints the market, the Financial Times reported. The report cited the offloading of UK-based Standard Life Investments' share of the retailer during the past six months, presumably due to concerns over the performance of M&S. The shares sold by the Standard Life, one of the largest fund management groups in UK, were substantial: from holding over 2% of the company's shares as the 11th largest shareholder of the retailer, Standard Life Investments now holds an "underweight" position of only 1.43%, the report said.
The call of other investors is for M&S to begin delivering, especially in clothing where the past few months placed its overhauled women's wear range under crucial test.
One of the investors of M&S was blunt when telling FT about the vulnerability of Bolland's position. The report quoted the investor as saying, "Of all the retail chief executives, Mr Bolland's position is possibly the most vulnerable. We would not start urging his resignation at this stage, but if next week's results are weak and the group fails to tackle its problems on clothing over the next six months, then his position will come under pressure."
Another investor told the FT that they have not been pleased with the retailer's performance. The investor added that Bolland had made plenty of promises but failed to deliver on them. The investor warned that time is running out for Bolland. "The big problem as far as we are concerned is the group's failure to improve their online offering and develop their clothing range. The success of Next and John Lewis has been built to a large degree on their strong online offering. M&S need to improve on that front," the investor added.
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