Marks & Spencer reports its half year results on Wednesday following a well-received third quarter update from Next this week.
Its online performance is expected to show double digit growth, an area which Next failed to meet expectations in, with General Merchandise (GM) sales likely to be dragged lower given ongoing weak store sales.
Keith Bowman at Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Food may again provide some counterbalance, although international operations are likely to have battled currency headwinds and tough macro-economic backdrops.”
Consensus is that underlying pre-tax profit is forecast to edge higher year-over-year (+1.65% to £272mln) following management’s push to reduce lower margin GM promotional sales and pursue direct product sourcing initiatives.
Elsewhere, sweetener specialist Tate & Lyle reports its interims on Thursday, with Jefferies warning investors to keep the numbers in perspective.
“We expect a very strong first half on paper, with pre-tax profit ahead by close to 30%, but counsel caution around the swings and roundabouts of prior year comparisons, movements in global costs and helpful forex” the broker said.
While it expects pre-tax profit to be around £103mln, the broker said the profit at constant foreign exchange, forecast to be around 7%, is the more accurate figure to focus on.
On the economic front, the start of November brings a barrage of data and events, which would keep market participants on their toes.
Bernard Aw at IG said: “Specifically, the non-farm payrolls for October will certainly be closely monitored given the weak numbers seen in August and September.”
Analysts are expecting another sub-200k reading, at 180k, which would be an improvement from September’s 142k.
Significant announcements expected
Monday
Trading statement: Pendragon (LON:PDG), Lonmin (LON:LMI), HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA).
Economic: UK – PMI Manufacturing, US – Construction spending, ISM Manufacturing.
Tuesday
Final: Imperial Tobacco Group (LON:IMT), Egdon Resources (LON:EDR), Associated British Foods (LON:ABF)
Trading statement: Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), Just Eat (LON:JE.), Pendragon (LON:PDG), Weir Group (LON:WEIR), Jelf Group (LON:JLF), Direct Line Insurance Group (LON:DLG), Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (LON:JLT).
Economic: UK – PMI Construction, US – Factory orders, Good orders, Auto sales.
Wednesday
Final: Hunting (LON:HTG)
Interim: New Europe Property Investments (LON:NEPI), Heath (Samuel) & Sons (LON:HSM), Marks & Spencer Group (LON:MKS), Smurfit Kappa Group (LON:SKG), Tracsis (LON:TRCS), Apax Global Alpha (LON:APAX), Wizz Air Holdings (LON:WIZZ), Canaccord Genuity Group (LON:CF.), Vedanta Resources (LON:VED).
Trading statement: Old Mutual (LON:OML), Persimmon (LON:PSN), Stagecoach Group (LON:SGC), Ricardo (LON:RCDO), Xaar (LON:XAR), Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN), Wetherspoon (J D) (LON:JDW).
Economic: UK – PMI Composite, EU – PPI, US – Balance of trade, Jobless claims, Crude oil inventories.
Thursday
Interim: Tate & Lyle (LON:TATE), Randgold Resources Ltd (LON:RRS), Lancashire Holdings (LON:LRE), Dairy Crest Group (LON:DCG), AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), Hellenic Carriers (LON:HCL), Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (LON:KWE), Cable & Wireless Communications (LON:CWC).
Trading statement: easyJet (LON:EZJ), Schroders (LON:SDR), SABMiller (LON:SAB), Croda International (LON:CRDA), Synthomer (LON:SYNT), Coca-Cola HBC (LON:CCH), Cobham (LON:COB), RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA), Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LON:HIK), Partnership Assurance Group (LON:PA.), Morrison (LON:Wm) Supermarkets (LON:MRW), Amec Foster Wheeler (LON:AMFW), Howden Joinery (LON:HWDN), Hunting (LON:HTG), Just Retirement Group (LON:JRG).
Companies trading ex-dividend: RTC Group (LON:RTC), Regenersis (LON:RGS), New Star Investment Trust (LON:NSI), Morgan Advanced Materials (LON:MGAM), SCS Group (LON:SCS), Sqn Asset Finance Income Fund (LON:SQN), Greencoat UK Wind (LON:UKW), Mission Marketing Group (LON:TMMG), Stobart Group Ltd (LON:STOB), SThree (LON:STHR), Laird (LON:LRD), James Halstead (LON:JHD), Blackrock Greater Europe Inv Trust (LON:BRGE), Avingtrans (LON:AVG), Amati VCT (LON:ATI), Ashmore group (LON:ASHM), Crown Place VCT (LON:CRWN), Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust (LON:DIG), JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust (LON:JCH), Henderson International Income Trust (LON:HINT), Henderson Far East Income (LON:HFEL), Elderstreet Vct (LON:EDV), Aeorema Communications (LON:AEO)
Economic: UK – BoE inflation report, BoE Interest rate minutes and decision, EU – ECB Report, Retail sales.
Friday
Interim: Telefonica SA (LON:TDE), 3i Infrastructure Ltd (LON:3IN).
Trading statement: Intu Properties (LON:INTU)
Economic: UK – Balance of trade, Manufacturing production, Industrial production, US – Non-farm payrolls.