The Week Ahead: Irn Bru still fizzing with sales and profits increase
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Irn Bru maker AG Barr will hope it can start the week with a fizz as it announces its full-year results, with the soft drinks group already having said it expects sales to have risen by around 6 per cent. Panmure Gordon believes this will translate into an operating profit of £34m, which would be an increase of4 per cent on the previous year, although the broker's analysts note that margins are likely to have dropped thanks to an increase in input costs. They expect the outlook for this issue to be one major focus, while they will also be watching out for further updates on the Scottish firm's plans to build a new plant south of the border.
Results/Updates: AG Barr, Bowleven, Kentz, Lamprell, Nanoco, Personal Group Holdings and Salamander Energy.
Tomorrow
The state of its operations in the US is expected to dominate the conversation around builders' merchant Wolseley's first-half figures on Tuesday. Last year the group said its sales growth in the country was roughly 7 per cent higher than its rivals, so Jefferies' scribblers are interested in whether this impressive state of affairs has continued.
Growth in the States, they predict, will offset a slowdown in Europe, while they also expect some news on Wolseley's spending plans. Pointing out that its balance sheet is currently on track to turn cash positive next year, the analysts believe that possibilities include a dividend increase or a step-up in its acquisition strategy.
Results/Updates: 888 Holdings, Afren, Babcock, Bellway, Bumi, Compass, EnQuest, Kazakhmys, Resolutionand Wolseley.
Wednesday
At its final results last month Domino's Pizza said like-for-like sales for the first seven weeks of 2012 had risen 3.7 per cent. This was an improvement on the3 per cent growth it managed over the previous year, so punters in the delivery company will be hoping Wednesday's first-quarter update shows this trend has continued.
Results/Updates: Domino's Pizza, Evraz, Henry Boot, JKX Oil & Gas, Melrose Resources, Petropavlovsk, Topps Tiles and Valiant Petroleum.
Thursday
Back in February Tui Travel revealed that – thanks in no small part to the woes of Thomas Cook – the tour operator had been enjoying a much better time of it in the UK than its rivals. Numis Securities' Wyn Ellis believes Thursday's pre-close update will be similarly bullish, while – regarding trading elsewhere in the world – he says that although there has been some weakness in its Nordic and German markets, a slight improvement in North Africa should partially offset this.
Bwin.Party releases its final results on Thursday, and Deutsche Bank warns that with an increasing proportion of its revenues being captured in tax because of a step-up in gaming duty across Europe, it expects the online gambling group's gross profit for 2011 to have dropped to €736m (£615m).
In terms of how the current year has been developing, the broker's scribblers predict the update will "show positive current trading momentum", although they add that Bwin's share price will remain under pressure until further clarity emerges over the regulation of online gambling in Germany, Spain and Greece.
Results/Updates: 3i, Bwin.party, Clinton Cards, Dairy Crest, FirstGroup, Future, Hilton Food, Imperial Tobacco, James Halstead, London Mining, Moss Bros, S&U and TUI Travel.
Friday
Electrocomponent's latest statement in February may have shown revenues rising 4 per cent over the previous four months, but the electrical parts supplier's shares were hit by the news that growth slowed in January to only 1 per cent. The group will be hoping for a better reaction to its pre-close trading update on Friday, although Numis's Steve Woolf is expecting a 2 per cent increase in revenues over the second half of the financial year, "implying a dip into negative territory in the last two months".
Results/Updates: Chesnara, Electrocomponents, QinetiQ, Songbird Estates and Tate & Lyle.
ECONOMICS DIARY
TODAY US pending home sales.
TOMORROW CBI reported sales; US consumer confidence;US house price index.
WEDNESDAY Current account; Eurozone M3 money supply; Final revision of fourth-quarter GDP;US crude oil inventories; US durable goods orders.
THURSDAY Bank of England consumer credit; Bank of England mortgage approvals; Bank of England net mortgage lending; Services index; US final revision of fourth-quarter GDP;US unemployment claims.
FRIDAY GfK consumer confidence; US Chicago PMI; US consumer sentiment survey; US personal spending.
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