As the UK tax year-end draws ever closer, with the month of March kicking off on Wednesday, the flow of corporate results announcements ratchets up significantly, particularly for FTSE 250-listed and smaller firms.
But even with most of the heavyweight FTSE 100 numbers out of the way, having seen the drugs, oils, and banking sectors dominate over the past few weeks, there will still be a few blue chips nuggets due for release in the coming week.
Among them, investors will tune in to full-year numbers from commercial broadcaster ITV, although broker Panmure Gordon thinks there may be more negatives than positives in the near term for the group.
In a note earlier this month downgrading its rating for the broadcaster to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ due to caution ahead of the results, Panmure said risks include weakness in net advertising revenue (NAR) and lacklustre trading in ITV’s Studios business.
The broker predicts a 5% drop in ITV's NAR for the full-year and a 7% decline in the first quarter of this year.
Shining through ...
Elsewhere, precious metals Fresnillo will continue the mining sector's recent flow of numbers, and it should see fourth-quarter group revenues get a boost as average selling prices for both silver and gold should have risen compared to the previous year.
Investors will also expect news on progress for the Mexico-focused firm’s newer mines, which must raise production as older ones are maturing and experiencing lower grades of ore.
Housebuilder Persimmon will also continue that sector’s reporting season, although there might be few surprises, with the firm having already provided some of the core numbers relating to 2016 in their last update.
Persimmon has said its 2016 revenues rose to £3.14bn, led by a rise in completions and average selling prices, so investors should be focused on the forward sales and management prospects for the year given the uncertainties in consumer confidence due to Brexit.
Meanwhile, once again, the focus of a trading update from conglomerate Associated British Foods will be on the post-Brexit vote performance of its discount fashion retailer Primark.
Given that the firm’s recent updates have indicated that sales growth at the high street chain has slowed sharply and sourcing costs have risen, investors will be keen to hear if the group still sees the weak post-Brexit pound leading to lower profit margins this year.
However, there should be better news from ABF’s sugar business, which has been a beneficiary from the fall in sterling.
Significant announcements expected:
Monday
Trading update: Associated British Foods PLC (LON:ABF)
Finals: Ascential PLC (LON:ASCL), Bunzl PLC (LON:BNZL), Dialight PLC (LON:DIA), Hiscox Limited (LON:HSX), Keller Group PLC (LON:KLR), Persimmon PLC (LON:PSN), Senior PLC (LON:SNR), Rotork PLC (LON:ROR), Verona Pharma (LON:VRP), WH Ireland Group PLC (LON:WHI)
Interims: Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:DPH), MJ Gleeson PLC (LON:GLE)
Tuesday
Finals: Bodycote PLC (LON:BOY), Croda International PLC (LON:CRDA), Direct Line Insurance PLC (LON:DLG), Elementis PLC (LON:ELM), Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES), GKN PLC (LON:GKN), Interserve PLC (LON:IRV), Johnson Service Group plc (LON:JSG), Laird PLC (LON:LRD), Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC (LON:MONY) Provident Financial PLC (LON:PFG), Sphere Medical Holdings PLC (LON:SPHR), St James’s Place PLC (LON:STJ), Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW), Taylor Wimpey PLC (LON:TW.)
Interims: Go-Ahead Group PLC (LON:GOG), Revolution Bars Group PLC (LON:RBG), Redde Plc (LON:REDD), Ricardo plc (LON: RCDO), Swallowfield plc (LON:SWL), Waterman Group PLC (LON:WTM)
Trading statements: Babcock International PLC (LON:BAB), OPG Power Ventures PLC (LON:OPG)
Wednesday
Finals: Admiral Group PLC (LON:ADM), BBA Aviation PLC (LON:BBA), Carillion PLC (LON:CLLN), Costain Group PLC (LON:COST), CRH PLC (LON:CRH), Evraz PLV (LON:EVR), ITV PLC (LON:ITV), Inchcape PLC (LON:INCH), International Personal Finance PLC (LON:IPF), Livanova PLC (LON:LIVN), Man Group PLC (LON:EMG), Novae Group PLC (LON:NVA), Riverstone Energy Limited (LON:RSE)
Thursday
Finals: Jimmy Choo PLC (LON:CHOO), Cobham PLC (LON:COB), Capita PLC (LON:CPI), Convatec Group PLC (LON:CTEC), Cocompare.com Group PLC (LON:GOCO), Hunting Plc (LON:HTG), Merlin Entertainments PLC (LON:MERL), Melrose Industries PLC (LON:MRO), Nichols (LON:NICHL), RPS Group PLC (LON:RPS), Schroders PLC (LON:SDR), Sportech plc (LON:SPO), Spirent Communications PLC (LON:SPT), Travis Perkins PLC (LON:TPK), Vesuvius Plc (LON:VSVS)
Friday
Finals: Berendsen PLC (LON:BRSN), London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSE), STV Group PLC (LON:STV), WPP group PLC (LON:WPP)