UK Edition
The week ahead in business and finance: February 27
Monday February 27
Expect few surprises from housebuilder Persimmon’s full-year results, as it has already flagged a lot of its figures. Britain’s second biggest householder by volume said in January that it had posted an expected 8pc increase in full-year revenues to £3.14bn. Since the Brexit vote, the London-listed group has fared well, despite a 12pc drop in its share price last year. In 2016, it built 15,171 homes across Britain and its sales rate rose by 15pc between July and December.
Clyde Lewis, of Peel Hunt, said: “The UK housing market remains in good shape and we expect Persimmon to reiterate this with its final results.”
Full-year results: Dialight, Senior, Persimmon, Rotork, FBD Holdings, Keller Group, Ascential, Hiscox, Bunzl, Trinity Mirror
Interim results: Dechra Pharmaceuticals, MJ Gleeson
Trading update: Associated British Foods
AGM: Mysquar Limited
Economics: Durable goods orders m/m (US), pending home sales m/m (US), private loans y/y (EU), M3 money supply y/y (EU)
Tuesday February 28
Engineering support and outsourcing services group Babcock International will reiterate its confidence of hitting full-year targets when it delivers its latest trading update. In November, the London-listed group reported half-year revenue growth of 6pc and a 7pc rise in pre-tax profits to £228.4m.
Management also pointed to a stronger second half of the year buoyed by a strong pipeline of new orders. However, investors will be looking for some reassurance on the health of outsourcing services following a profit warning from Mitie late last year. Just last month, Babcock was awarded a contract to provide and maintain a training platform and related services for the French Air Force in a deal expected to be worth over €500m.
Full-year results: Derwent London, GKN, Direct Line Insurance, Moneysupermarket.com, Interserve, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Laird, Fresnillo, Elementis, Meggitt, Novae Group, Johnson Service Group, IWG, Provident Financial, Sphere Medical, St James’s Place, Taylor Wimpey, Dalata Hotel Group, Bodycote, Croda International, Greggs, Virgin Money
Interim results: Ricardo, Waterman Group, Go-Ahead Group, Swallowfield, Redde
Trading update: Babcock International
AGM: Sage Group
Economics: GfK Consumer Confidence (UK), Nationwide HPI m/m (UK), preliminary GDP price index q/q (US), goods trade balance (US), preliminary wholesale inventories m/m (US), Chicago PMI (US), CB consumer confidence (US), Richmond Manufacturing index (US), retail sales m/m (GER), CPI flash estimate y/y (EU)
Wednesday March 1
ITV indicated in November that it expects earning for the year to be broadly flat helped by growth in its production business that makes shows such as “Poldark” and “Cold Feet”. However, advertising revenues on its television channels are forecast to fall 7pc in the final quarter of 2016. Analysts in the City think the outlook for advertising revenue will “remain challenging” this year due to an absence of Euro football.
Jonathan Helliwell, of Panmure Gordon, said the FTSE 100 company’s valuation remains “reasonable”, but added that a takeover for ITV “can never be discounted”. Just last month, Goldman Sachs added the stock to its “conviction list” as it believes the broadcaster is a likely M&A target given its poor share price performance following the Brexit vote.
Full-year results: Carillion, Bank of Cyprus, Fisher (James) & Sons, BBA Aviation, International Personal Finance, Inchcape, ITV, Evraz, Admiral Group, Elementis, Man Group, Empresaria Group, Livanova, Riverstone Energy
Economics: BRC shop price index y/y (UK), net lending to individuals m/m (UK), M4 money supply m/m (UK), manufacturing PMI (UK), mortgage approvals (UK), personal income m/m (US), personal spending m/m (US), final manufacturing PMI (US), ISM manufacturing PMI (US), IBD/TIPP economic optimism (US), construction spending m/m (US), Beige book (US), final manufacturing PMI (EU), final manufacturing PMI (GER), unemployment change (GER)
Thursday March 2
Builders merchants Travis Perkins is expected to miss full-year profit forecasts after a challenging 2016 amid weak demand, uncertainty created by the Brexit vote, sluggish prices and competitive pressures. In October, the London-listed group said core earnings would be “slightly below” the market consensus of £415m.
It also announced plans to close 10 small distribution centres and 30 of its 2,060 branches in a bid to make its supply chain more efficient. Investors will shift their focus to the outlook for 2017. The group has already predicted another tough year, but Clyde Lewis, of Peel Hunt, said: “2017 will be easier from a price inflation point of view, albeit the volume prognosis mixed at best, due in part to the quiet housing market second-hand transactions.”
Full-year results: Travis Perkins, Melrose, Vesuvius, Spire Healthcare, Schroders, RPS, Merlin Entertainments, Sportech, Spirent Communications, Hunting, Jardine Matheson, Dairy Farm International, Convatec Group, Cobham, Gocompare.com, Arrow Global Group, Capita
Economics: Construction PMI (UK), unemployment claims (US), PPI m/m (EU), unemployment rate (EU)
Friday March 3
The world’s largest advertising group WPP is expected to report like-for-like revenue and sales growth for 2016 of just over 3pc. The London-listed company took a more cautious outlook in October after it experienced a weaker performance in the third quarter in the UK following the Brexit vote. In the third quarter of 2016, sales growth slowed to 2.8pc and revenue grew by 3.2pc in the same period, down from 4.3pc in the previous quarter.
Earlier this month, WPP won a $600m Walgreens Boots Alliance account from Omnicom, which covers the chains in the US and Boots in the UK. Analysts at Jefferies said the win should “boost sentiment”.
Full-year results: STV Group, London Stock Exchange Group, Berendsen, WPP Group
Economics: Services PMI (UK), final services PMI (US), ISM non-manufacturing PMI (US), final services PMI (EU), retail PMI (EU), retail sales m/m (EU)