A global football tournament taking place at the same time as there is a heatwave in the UK is the dream combo for Greene King.
Investors already have a fairly good idea of what to expect from the boozers operator and brewer’s full-year results on Thursday, thanks to a trading update in April just before the end of the pub operator’s financial year.
In that update, the FTSE 250 group revealed like-for-like sales in its Pub Company division – which accounts for more than 80% of total sales – were down 1.8% year-on-year.
Despite the drop-off in revenues, particularly food sales, Greene King kept its full-year profit guidance on hold at between £240-245mln.
Attention will, therefore, be on the start of the current financial year and the outlook, as pub groups battle higher costs and squeezed household incomes, which have put pressure on their top and bottom lines.
The recent warm weather should have provided some respite, while the World Cup also traditionally provides a boost for the industry, especially if the England team manages to avoid embarrassing themselves, which they have so far.
Will Belgian lagers be heavily promoted during Thursday evening's England vs Belgium match? PUBS don’t normally miss many tricks with this sort of thing.
The dividend will also be closely eyed. Analysts had thought it might be chopped, although the maintained profits forecasts back in April should mean its secure this time around.
Ghana news wanted from Tullow Oil
There’ll likely be a healthy focus on oil prices and margins as Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW) releases its trading update, not least because it follows the latest OPEC meeting (June 22).
In a recent note, analysts at UBS said that attention will be on Tullow’s growth project, specifically on its drilling in Ghana where four wells are in the schedule.
“The first of these four wells is in the Ntomme field and is due to be brought online this month. Tullow's FY18 production guidance is 76,000 to 85,000 boe/d (UBSe 85kboe/d on strong performance at TEN),” the analysts said.
“We will also be looking for an update on plans to procure a second rig for Ghana, and progress on the early oil production scheme (EOPS) in Lokichar, Kenya.”
UBS has a ‘neutral’ rating on Tullow with a price target of 250p, versus a current share price of around 232p.
First post-Amec update for Wood Group
John Wood Group PLC (LON:WG.) will report first-half trading news, its first update since completing the acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler earlier this year.
Analysts at UBS expect the release to follow the previous Wood formats of qualitative updates by division and an update on the outlook/guidance based on these divisional trends.
Their key focus will be on the integration of Amec FW, progress in disposals and deleveraging, any US onshore bottlenecks impact, and signs of recovery in the international oil & gas markets.
Activity levels high for Hunting
Fellow oilfield services group Hunting Plc (LON:HTG) will also issue a first-half trading update on Thursday, with the FTSE 250-listed firm having already flagged that it had a strong start in 2018 driven by high activity levels within the onshore North American completions market.
In an update in April, Hunting said its first-quarter underlying earnings (EBITDA) totalled roughly US$33mln and analysts at UBS expect the second-quarter momentum to be at least as strong, implying that first-half EBITDA could be greater than US$66mln.
The Swiss bank’s analysts said the other key area of focus for Hunting is on cash because of a strain on inventories and receivables due to the strong ramp in activity.
Significant announcements expected
Trading updates: Tullow Oil (LON:TLW), Hunting Plc (LON:HTG), John Wood Group PLC (LON:WG.)
Finals: Greene King PLC (LON:GNK), Stagecoach Group PLC (LON:SGC), BCA Marketplace PLC (LON:BCA), James Latham PLC (LON:LTHM), Redcentric PLC (LON:RCN), XPS Pensions Group PLC (LON:XPS)
Ex-dividends: To knock 6.18 points off FTSE 100 - British American Tobacco plc (LON:BATS), British Land PLC (LON:BLND), Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY), Coca-Cola HBC PLC (LON:CCH), International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC (LON:IAG)
Economic data: Nationwide UK house price index, US weekly jobless, US Q1 GDP final reading