It will be time to wake up and smell the coffee on Tuesday, when Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) delivers full-year results which are expected to show revenue and profits frothing higher.
Strong performances in its Costa Coffee and Premier Inn chains are expected to have helped to offset softer trading in Whitbread’s restaurant arm, which includes Beefeater and Brewer’s Faye.
In a trading update in January, the FTSE 100-listed company said like-for-like sales dropped 1.5% in the restaurant arm in the 13 weeks to 1 December, but rose 4.3% at Costa and 1.8% at Premier Inns.
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Ahead of the full year results, Credit Suisse noted “good trading momentum” and the “strong fundamentals” of the Premier Inn network where revenue per available room in the UK is at the “best for two years”.
The bank predicts Whitbread reporting adjusted pre-tax profit of £567mln, compared to £546mln the previous year, with revenue is expected to rise to £3.1bn from £2.9bn.
St James’s Place expected to see strong first-quarter trading
Elsewhere, blue chip wealth manager St James’s Place PLC (LON:STJ) is expected to show the very strong end to last year carried over in to the current first-quarter, with equity markets relatively favourable.
In a preview, analysts at Barclays Capital expect St James’s Place to report a 16% increase in first-quarter sales to £2.8bn, with net fund flows of £1.5bn, an assets under management increasing to £78bn.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the group saw net flows of £2.0bn and a 30% increase in sales to £3.3bn.
BarCap thinks that while the wealth manager may face tougher comparatives in the second half of the year, the momentum should continue throughout the second half.
Virgin Money could see slight uplift in net interest margin
Staying with finance, challenger lender Virgin Money PLC (LON:VM.) – which is seen as a likely bidder for the troubled Co-op Bank – will also unveil a first-quarter trading update.
The analysts at BarCap predict that, although they expect the firm’s net interest margin to remain relatively flat for the year as a whole, there could be a slight uplift in the first-quarter as lower deposit costs feed through.
They expect Virgin Money’s costs to remain tightly controlled and they added that “although provisions will rise in time, macro conditions suggest that credit quality should be fairly stable for now.”
Significant announcements expected on Tuesday:
Trading Statements: Elementis PLC (LON:ELM); St James's Place PLC (LON:STJ), Virgin Money PLC (LON:VM.)
Interims: Apax Global Alpha Ltd (LON:APAX)
Finals: Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:CIR); Havelock Europa plc (LON:HVE); Minds + Machines Group Ltd (LON:MMX); Optibiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI); Redstoneconnect PLC (LON: REDS); Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)