Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline will unveil its fourth-quarter numbers on Wednesday, as the pharmaceuticals sector’s updates season warms up.
Like sector peer Astra, which reported last week, the trend for Glaxo in recent years has been one of falling revenues due to increased generic competition; however, this year analysts expect to see a jump in sales as a direct result of sterling’s weakness since the Brext vote.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank expect Glaxo to deliver earnings per share growth, at constant exchange rates, at the top-end of its 11%-12% growth guidance.
Investors will also be looking out for progress on the drugs firms cost cutting programmes, news on R&D projects, along with any reaction to the new US administration’s rhetoric on controlling drug prices.
The last we heard from stockbroker and wealth management firm Hargreaves Lansdown, assets under management at the end of September 2016 had risen to a record £67.6bn.
Peel Hunt think that trend will have continued in the final quarter of 2016, given rising equity markets in the post-Trump environment and generally strong trading volumes in stock markets.
“There seems little to halt the growth in Hargreaves − the business continues to win new clients and persistency remains high. Other points of interest will be progress on HL Savings and any change in the expected level of interest income,” Peel Hunt suggested.
Significant announcements expected
Finals: GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON:GSK), Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO), Smurfitt Kappa (LON:SKG), Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW)
Interims: Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM), Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (LON:HL.), Sophos Group, PLC (LON:SOPH), UK Commercial Property Trust PLC (LON:UKCM)
Trading updates: Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT), Victrex PLC (LON:VTX)