There's a flurry of interesting small cap firms reporting this week, alongside AIM internet retail biggie ASOS PLC (LON:ASC).
These include miner Central Asia Metals PLC (LON:CAML), Ergomed PLC (LON:ERGO) and Optibiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI), all of which have final results out.
Towards the end of 2015, City firm Numis wrote that Central Asia Metals remained "a favoured copper play”, while in the early part of 2016, resource specialist broker SP Angel spoke of "a good performance” and argued that the shares looked “good value on current multiples with cash generation and no debt also helping an already healthy balance sheet".
Shares in the firm have risen from around 125p in January this year to stand at about 174p today, despite the well-documented squeeze on copper prices.
In terms of output in 2015, the company hit a new record of 12,071 tonnes of copper production, produced at a cash cost of between US$0.65 and US$0.70 per pound of copper.
This allowed for plenty of margin even on weaker prevailing copper price so traders will be keen to see how these operational successes actually translates onto the financials.
Indeed, last week, the group said it had produced 3,207 tonnes of copper from its Kounrad copper project in Kazakhstan during the first quarter of 2016, up a chunky 36.5% on the 2,305 tonnes produced in the corresponding period in 2015.
Meanwhile, a trading statement in February this year from junior pharma services group Ergomed (LON:ERGO) showed revenues lifted 25% in 2015 with orders also rising strongly, so investors will no doubt be keen to see the break-down of the financial statements.
The company splits its business between services supply and drug co-development deals. Revenues for 2015 were around £29mln (£24mln including acquisition PrimeVigilance on a pro-forma basis).
City broker Stifel estimated earlier this year that Ergomed trades at a 17% discount to its contract research outsource peers, despite its superior growth and not including the added value in its co-development portfolio.
Now life sciences group OptiBiotix (LON:OPTI) has been in the news a lot recently.
Shares were bolstered last week, market makers said, after a report by the well-respected Lancet medical journal suggesting the obesity epidemic is only going to worsen over the next decade.
Optobiotix is focused on altering the function of the human biome to tackle obesity, cholesterol and diabetes - hence the connection.
Notably, it has also moved into the skincare market, acquiring exclusive rights to intellectual property developed by The University of Manchester in skin health, creating a majority owned joint venture (JV) that will be called SkinBiotix Limited.
Investors will be keen to see how all the group's activities connect and are progressing and what's in store for the rest of 2016.
ASOS is a big name so traders and the market tend to take notice when it reports. This week it reports results for the six months to end February.
Scribes at HSBC on Friday said the group's exit from China, reported on Tuesday, despite resulting in an exceptional cost of £10mln will free up resources for priority markets.
"China exit reflects commercial reality and required investment of operating in a highly competitive market," the broker said, repeating a 'buy' rating and target price or 4,500p - an upside to the current price of around 34%.
It expects 2016 estimates to benefit from a £2m incremental investment and FY17/18e to benefit from £4mln incremental investment.
Numis also rates shares a 'buy' (target: 4,250p). It expects H1 sales growth of +20%, supporting H1 PBT of £20.0m, ahead of last year even after the inclusion of £6.3m of insurance credits.
"Elsewhere, we will be interested in the moving parts on gross margin (likely to have seen an improvement in Q2 from stronger full price sell-through), early feedback from the implementation of the loyalty scheme (A-List), implementation of initiatives, and progress on logistics.
"We continue to believe that ASOS has a standout proposition, combining a sharp demographic focus, a credible fashion brand, an extensive range of top third-party brands, genuine fast fashion own-label product, content, and a leading delivery proposition," said analyst Andrew Wade.
Highlights:
Monday April 11
ASOS (LON:ASC), Central Asia Metals (LON:CAML), Vedanta Resources (LON:VED)
Tuesday April 12
Ergomed (LON:ERGO), Tyratech (LON:TYR, LON:TYRU)
Wednesday April 13
Tesco (LON:TESC), Midatech Pharma (LON:MTPH)
Thursday April 14
Optiobiotix (LON:OPTI) Unilever (LON:ULVR), Persimmon (LON:PSN), Burberry (LON:BRBY), Poundland (LON:PLND).
Friday April 15