Home Retail Group is expected to provide its half year results on Wednesday, with investors keen to see if the Argos business has rebounded.
“The news comes against what were marginally disappointing Argos second quarter like-for-like sales and a flagged increase in second half marketing costs for the division,” Keith Bowman at Hargreaves Lansdown said.
On a positive note, an easier market for Homebase is likely to be reiterated with investors keen to see if there is an update on its store closure programme.
Ahead of the results and with the Argos business, which has yet to inspire, pitted against “speculative hopes for an eventual sale of its restructured Homebase division”, average ratings recommend a ‘Hold’, Bowman said.
Elsewhere, Sky is due to report first quarter results, with Jefferies expecting the satellite broadcaster to show revenues grew 5% to £2.7bn.
One area for investors to look for is the continuing battle it has with BT Sport over the rights to certain tournaments, including the Champions League.
“Despite the loss of Champions League in the UK/Italy, we believe Sky will deliver a broadly stable year-on-year performance in terms of subscriber net adds with solid growth in financials,” the broker said.
Significant announcements expected
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