As the policies of new President Donald Trump continue to dominate news, US factors will be a key focus for blue-chip engines maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR), which delivers its final 2016 results on Tuesday.
The news flow surrounding R-R in recent months has been dominated by corruption investigations in the US, the UK and Brazil, so hopefully the results will be an opportunity for the focus to return to the company’s operations.
However, analysts at the Share Centre pointed out in a preview that all isn’t rosy for R-R as the market believes that revenue for the year will be down slightly as sales of new engines have cannibalised older models.
In a preview note, they said: ”Group profits will also hurt by FX hedges that have gone wrong because of Brexit.
“Nevertheless, it’s the forward looking statement on potential new contracts, progress on group restructuring and lowering costs that will be more important.”
Holiday break ...
Merged FTSE 100-listed travel giant TUI Group PLC (LON:TUI) will issue a first-quarter trading update on Tuesday, with investors hoping that it will avoid the tumbles its mid cap peer Thomas Cook Group PLC (LON:TCG) made last week after issuing a cautious outlook statement.
This is an important time of year for the world’s largest tourism group as many people plan and book their summer holidays in the winter months.
In December, TUI Group said trading for the winter and summer 2017 seasons was in line with expectations.
Among the mid caps, FTSE 250-listed gold miner Acacia Mining PLC (LON:ACA) - formerly known as African Barrick Gold – should see its full year results helped by gold prices trading near three-month highs at US$1,235 an ounce.
However, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, also thinks that Acacia’s putative merger discussions with Toronto-listed Endeavour may overshadow its 2016 results.
Away from corporate news, the latest UK inflation numbers will be keenly eyed, with January’s consumer price index expected to have risen to 1.9% in January, taking it to its highest level since June 2014.
In a preview of the data, Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Markit said: “Inflation is expected to have been lifted in January primarily by higher fuel and food prices (fuel prices hit a two-year high during the month).
“Sterling’s weakness also likely increasingly fed through to cause retailers, services companies and manufacturers to lift their prices (or reduce the sizes of products)."
Significant announcements expected on Tuesday:
Trading update: TUI Group PLC (LON:TUI)
Finals: Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.), Spectris PLC (LON:SXS), Acacia Mining PLC (LON:ACA)
Interims: A&J Mucklow Group PLC (LON:MKLW)