The trading statement from Home Retail on Thursday could be its last as a publicly quoted company.
The Argos owner has two suitors, Sainsbury (J) from the UK and Steinhoff, the South African retail conglomerate, both of which have until 18 March to formally announce a bid or walk away.
As such, the update is a bit of a sideshow, according to Numis. It expects Home Retail to continue to advise shareholders to take no action ahead of any developments in the bid approaches.
“We expect trading to have remained sluggish during the final 8 weeks of FY16, with negative LFL [like-for-like sales] at Argos likely to have continued, but with limited impact likely on FY profit due to low seasonality,” Numis's Matthew Taylor said.
Wednesday sees insurance giant Prudential issue its fourth quarter results, following on from a strong set of third quarter numbers.
“Investors should expect this to follow through in the final quarter;however, within the asset management businesses, there have been net outflows and this could have accelerated over the period given the extreme volatility in the markets. With global growth concerns being led by a weakening China, investors will be seeking some reassurances that there still remain good prospects for life business in the Far East where it has a large exposure,” said Graham Spooner, a research analyst at The Share Centre.
On the economic front, the meeting of the European Central Bank's governing council is likely to be the big event of the week.
“Following January’s press conference where President Draghi set out his stall to ‘review and reconsider’ the ECB’s policy stance, further action from the central bank looks a near certainty on 10 March, particularly in light of February’s disappointing ‘flash’ CPI estimate, which saw headline inflation return to negative territory at -0.2%,” reckons Investec.
Monday
Finals: Clarkson (LON:CKN), Escher Group (LON:ESCH), Irish Continental Group (LON:ICGC), Penna Consulting (LON:PNA), RTC Group (LON:RTC), Telit Communications (LON:TCM)
Economic: UK – BRC Retail Sales. US – Consumer Credit; Labour Market Conditions Index
Tuesday
Finals: Apax Global Alpha Ltd (LON:APAX), Brammer (LON:BRAM), CLS Holdings (LON:CLI), Dialight (LON:DIA), Equiniti Group (LON:EQN), esure Group (LON:ESUR), Forbidden Technologies (LON:FBT), Foxtons Group (LON:FOXT), Paddy Power Betfair (LON:PPB), SQS Software Quality Systems AG (LON:SQS), Tyman (LON:TYMN), Zegona Communications (LON:ZEG)
Interims: Allergy Therapeutics (LON:AGY), Regenersis (LON:RGS), St Ives (LON:SIV)
Economic: UK – BRC Shop Price Index. US – NFIB Small Business Index
Wednesday
Finals: 4imprint Group (LON:FOUR), G4S (LON:GFS), Hill & Smith Holdings (LON:HILS), Hochschild Mining (LON:HOC), Lookers (LON:LOOK), Mincon Group Eur0.01 (LON:MCON), Portmeirion Group (LON:PMP), Prudential (LON:PRU), Restaurant Group (LON:The) (LON:RTN), SIG (LON:SHI), StatPro Group (LON:SOG), Tri-Star Resources (LON:TSTR)
Economic: UK – Industrial production; NIESR GDP Estimate; RICS House Price Balance
Thursday
Finals: Aldermore Group (LON:ALD), Faron Pharmaceuticals (LON:FARN), Grupo Clarin (LON:GCLA), Michael Page International (LON:MPI), PPHE Hotel Group (LON:PPH)
Interims: Eagle Eye Solutions Group 1p (LON:EYE)
Trading statements: Fenner (LON:FENR), Home Retail Group (LON:HOME)
Economic: EU – ECB Press Conference. US – JOLTS Job Openings; Unemployment Claims
Friday
Finals: Computacenter (LON:CCC), Global Ports Investments Gdr (LON:80GM), Old Mutual (LON:OML), Pace (LON:PIC)
Interims: Just Retirement Group (LON:JRG), Wetherspoon (J D) (LON:JDW)
Economic: UK – Consumer Inflation Expectations;p Construction Output; Trade Balance. US – Import prices; UoM Consumer Sentiment and Inflation Expectations