Third-quarter trading news from a somewhat chastened Unilever plc (LON:ULVR) will be the main corporate focus on Thursday, with the Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant having recently aborted plans to abandon its dual-listing structure.
In the first half of 2018, the FTSE 100-listed firm reported underlying sales growth of 2.5% from the year before.
UBS is predicting a “notable acceleration” to 5.0% for the latest quarter, of which 2.3 percentage points it predicts will be from increased volumes and the rest will be accounted for by price increases.
The extended summer will have done no harm to sales of its ice cream and personal care products, while Unilever should also see a partial recovery of the sales lost in Brazil in the second quarter when there was a strike by lorry drivers.
All eyes on Rentokil’s pest control business
Fellow blue-chip component Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO) has been pivoting towards its pest control business of late, snapping up 20 companies in the first half and recently buying Mitie Group PLC’s (LON:MTO) pest control arm for £40mln.
Given the increased focus on this part of the business, investors will want chief executive Andy Ransom to be pleased with its performance again, as he was at the half-way point.
Recent trading is likely to have been boosted by these acquisitions, despite severe weather conditions disrupting some of its operations.
Rentokil’s performance in Asia and the Americas will be important, as will attempts to increase its emerging market presence.
Domino’s Pizza investors hope for better news
Away from the top flight, investors in the UK branch of pizza chain Domino’s Pizza Group PLC (LON:DOM) will be hoping for a more upbeat outlook when the firm releases a third-quarter trading update.
The group reported lower than expected sales for the second quarter in its half-year results in August, while also citing an “uncertain” trading environment going forward as consumer incomes continue to be squeezed while inflation piled pressure on the sector.
Despite the gloomier outlook, Domino’s chief executive David Wild said at the time that the group expected underlying pre-tax profits for the full year to be “in line with current market expectations” of between £95.9mln-£101.4mln.
Investment bank UBS recently cut its target price for Domino’s to 250p from 270p, citing concerns around the company’s relationship with its franchisees and value for money.
Significant events expected on Thursday October 18:
Trading updates: Unilever plc (LON:UVLR), Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO), Domino’s Pizza PLC (LON:DOM), National Express PLC (LON:NEX), International Personal Finance PLC (LON:IPF), Renishaw PLC (LON:RSW), RWS Holdings PLC (LON:RWS)
Finals: Applied Graphene Materials PLC (LON:AGM), Tristel Plc (LON:TSTL)
Ex-dividends: To take 1.6 points off FTSE 100 index - BAE Systems PLC (LON:BA.), Smiths Group PLC (LON:SMIN)
Economic data: UK retail sales; US weekly jobless; Philly Fed business outlook survey