First, profits tell you how it did in the past, not necessarily how it will do in the future. Particularly if the future conditions are going to be very different from those of the recent past.

And with the very large cuts in spending that are coming the future is going to be very different. The cuts are going to mean hige job losses and therefore huge cut backs on retail spening. Almost no retailers are going to do well. Only a few who manageto postion themselves to capture those who move from more expensive to less expensive retailers, will really do well.

For M&S to have done really well their sales increases would have to be seen to be in capturing a greater proportion of lower income buyers. Investors would want to know not that M&S did well in the brief rally of the last quarter, but are positioned for growth as cuts and spending get squeezed.

If the market looked at the results and said 1) this is good but not as good as we had hoped then they will sell, and 2) if they think the M&S starategy was good in the rally but will fail in the dip then they will sell.

I may be talking rubbish but It's all I can say without looking more closely.

Some guy in the office just said the following.
"How is it that M&S post increased sales, and then their share price drops"

What are your thoughts please mate