Market research group Kantar Worldpanel reckons Sainsbury's (LON:SBRY) won the Christmas trading battle so Wednesday's update should be an upbeat affair.
The caveat to Kantar's data is that it only won against other members of the Big Four – Tesco, Asda and Morrisons – but even with the hard discounters snapping at its heels and Waitrose raining on it from above, it still managed to increase market share.
Kantar reckons Sainsbury's sales were 0.8% higher in the 12 weeks to 3 January, pushing up its market share by one-tenth of a percentage point.
“Against tough year-over-year comparatives, like-for-like sales (excluding fuel) are likely to have remained in negative territory (Q2: -1.1%). Continued food deflation across many categories is likely to have played its part,” suggested Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Keith Bowman, before the Kantar figures had been released.
“On the upside, the consumer trend in favour of celebration treats may again assist, while the group’s emphasis on convenience stores further underlined – it opened 27 such stores in Q2,” he added.
House builder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) sounded a note of caution in its full-year results, and while most of its peers have seen a continuation of the good times, at least one – Bovis – has found the going tougher than the market had been expecting.
“In our view the focus will be on current trading trends and also the guidance the group give regarding full year volume growth, which looks low on current forecasts based on outlet growth and current sales rates,” reckons Chris Millington at Numis Securities.
“Whilst this is partly a function of Barratt looking to rebalance its H1/H2 profit profile, we think there is scope for out-performance and this could be a key area of upgrades for the current year,” he added.
It might be worthwhile Hays (LON:HAS) shareholders having a large whisky to hand before reading Wednesday's trading update, judging by the recent statements from peers Robert Walters and Michael Page.
Significant announcements expected
Trading statement: Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), Connect Group (LON:CNCT), Dunelm Group (LON:DNLM), Fenner (LON:FENR), Hays (LON:HAS), Mears (LON:MER), Regenersis (LON:RGS), Sainsbury (J) (LON:SBRY), Tullow Oil (LON:TLW), Xaar (LON:XAR)
Macro - US: Monthly budget statement, Fed Beige Book. Eurozone: Industrial production. China: Trade figures.