Yahoo Finance The week ahead in business and finance
Monday
No FTSE 350 companies reporting.
AGM: BP
Tuesday
Sandwich maker and convenience food specialist Greencore will be hoping to steady the ship. Teething problems in the US forced it to issue a profit warning in March, slashing its share price by 30pc in a day.
The boss of its American arm, Chris Kirke, departed and chief executive Patrick Coveney is now spending half of his time across the Atlantic attempting to kick-start its troubled expansion in the States.
Despite snapping up Peacock Foods for $747m (£555m) in 2016, a move which it claimed would quadruple its sales in the US, its factories there still have huge amounts of spare capacity, with a £3m restructuring hoping to bring the division under control. The focus for management will be on the “slow process of rebuilding market confidence”, and a “confident but realistic commentary” on its prospects in the second half of the year is “critical”, according to Jefferies.
Full-year results: Big Yellow Group, Cranswick, Entertainment One, Halfords, Homeserve, Intermediate Capital, NEX, Pets at Home
Interim results: Greencore, Shaftesbury, UDG Healthcare
AGM: Royal Dutch Shell
Economics: Public sector net borrowing (UK)
Wednesday
Embattled high street icon Marks & Spencer will try to cling on to FTSE 100 status after a bruising year knocked its share price to a nine-year low in April.
M&S is struggling to get to grips with huge shifts on the high street, with its core food and clothing divisions both under pressure.
Chairman Archie Norman has hinted that the pace of the turnaround would need to be accelerated, but a lack of clarity on its recovery plan has weakened the company’s shares in recent months, Barclays said.
It added that M&S is likely to ramp up spending but the main focus for investors will be on its outlook. A profit upgrade from Next earlier this month has given M&S shareholders a glimmer of hope for an uptick in trading. The retail bellwether said that a spell of sunny weather had boosted demand for clothing although it has previously warned investors about reading too much into weather-distorted sales.
Full-year results: Assura, Babcock, Dairy Crest, Great Portland Estates, HICL Infrastructure Co, Marks & Spencer, NewRiver REIT, Severn Trent, Vedanta
Interim results: Britvic, ZPG
Trading update: Softcat
AGM: Antofagasta, Bovis, St James’s Place
Economics: Inflation data (UK), Composite PMI survey (US & EU), FOMC meeting minutes (US)
Thursday
TalkTalk’s turnaround will be under investors’ microscopes after its shares plunged to a record low in February in the wake of a profit warning. The company was forced to plead for a £200m cash injection to pay down its hefty debt pile and shareholders should brace for a downgrade in guidance, Jefferies warned.
Full-year results: Caledonia Investment, Electrocomponents, PayPoint, Renewi, TalkTalk, Tate & Lyle, United Utilities, Wizz Air
Interim results: Paragon
Trading update: Go-Ahead, Inchcape, Intertek, Kingfisher
AGM: Lloyds, Spire
Economics: Retail sales (UK)
Friday
Pennon’s response to tightening regulation in the water industry will be in focus as the firm braces for the impact of Ofwat’s 2019 price review.
It has one of the most generous dividends schemes on London’s market and the City “will be hoping to see a strong grip on costs and a positive outlook for the smaller waste management division” as tough times loom, Hargreaves Lansdown’s George Salmon explained.
Full-year results: Pennon, SSE
Trading update: Spectris
Economics: GDP growth second estimate (UK)
