The humbling of supermarket giant Tesco (LON:TSCO) over the last few years has been fascinating to watch, and Friday’s statement should be equally interesting.
The new boss, “Drastic” Dave Lewis, has been following the text book by “kitchen sinking” everything in sight to get as much bad news out of the way during his honeymoon period in order to reset expectations.
The company’s South Korean business is reportedly up for sale, and Google is said to be interested in the company’s Dunnhumby unit, the data gathering arm that was behind the success of the Tesco Clubcard.
Also reporting next week are two Proactive favourites: Hayward Tyler and Photo-Me International.
Engineering firm Hayward Tyler is sprightly for a 200-year-old company, and though sentiment on the stock has been dampened by the travails of the oil & gas sector, which the company serves, it is worth noting that only about 10% of its revenue comes from this quarter.
Analysts have pencilled in a figure of £4.6mln for pre-tax profit on sales of £48mln, and will be keeping a close eye on the health of the company’s order book.
Photo-Me is best known for operating photo booths, but it has other strings to its bow, including laundry machines located in supermarket car parks.
“There has been impressive cash generation which has led to significant growth in dividends. Investors will be looking at the performance in its important international business, along with cost saving measures that were introduced,” suggests Sheridan Admans, investment research manager at The Share Centre.
Significant announcements expected
Monday
Finals: Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR), Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings (LON:RQIH)
Economic: EU – Consumer confidence
Tuesday
Finals: Digital Barriers (LON:DGB), Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (LON:IDH), Imimobile (LON:IMO), Hayward Tyler Group (LON:HAYT), Syqic (LON:SYQ), Telecom Plus (LON:TEP)
Economic: Asia – Chinese HSBC manufacturing PMI. EU – Markit PMIs. UK – Inflation report hearings, CBI industrial trends survey. US – Durable goods, Housing price index, new home sales, Markit manufacturing PMI
Wednesday
Market Tech Holdings Limited (LON:MKT)
Economic: UK – BBA mortgage approvals, Financial stability report. US - GDP
Thursday
Finals: Cohort (LON:CHRT), Eckoh (LON:ECK), Photo-Me International (LON:PHTM)
The following widely-held stocks are scheduled to trade ex-dividend on Thursday: United Utilities, Electrocomponents, Experian, Compass, JD Sports Fashion
Economic: UK – CBI distributive trades survey. US – Personal income, Weekly jobless claims, Markit PMIs
Friday
Economic: EU – M3 money supply