The final week of November brings a slight slowing in the flow of corporate announcements as the twinkling lights of Christmas start to peek out from under the spreadsheets.
However, there will still be a steady flow of company news, albeit not quite of the quality of the past few month, while economic data is also low key in the coming week, with the most attention remaining on the Brexit agreement conclusion.
Just one FTSE 100 firm features on the results diary, testing, inspection and certification firm Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK), but a smattering of former blue-chip firms will also feature including holiday’s group Thomas Cook Group PLC (LON:TCG) and utility Pennon Group plc (LON:PNN).
Testing times for Intertek
Intertek stock breached the £60 a share level during the summer, but have fairly rapidly fallen back to roughly £45 a share, saw investors will be hoping the blue-chip firm’s third-quarter sales and revenue will reassure in Tuesday’s update.
The group, however, is not alone as other industrial firms have also seen a share pullback amid concerns over a slowing global economy and trade tensions between China and the US.
In a preview of Intertek’s update, Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre said: “A large part of its work is involved in quality assurance and testing of raw materials which are highly dependent on trade flows not being disrupted.
“At the half year stage it experienced a slight slowing of the organic growth rate and a repeat of this will not be welcome. However, it is likely that management will emphasise the longer-term drivers of increased regulation and higher quality standards of the group’s prospects.
“Meanwhile, investors would like to see the integration progress being made on their various acquisitions.”
Heatwave to hit Thomas Cook earnings
The hot weather this summer is expected to have dragged on customer demand for FTSE 250-listed tour operator Thomas Cook this year.
The company, which reports its 2018 results on Thursday, cut its profit outlook for the year in a September trading update.
The group said that, based on recent trading, its core underlying earnings (EBIT) would come in at around £280mln for the 12 months to September 30, below a previous £323mln-£355mln range.
It blamed the reduced profit guidance on the heatwave in northern Europe over the summer, which meant more people stayed at home and put off booking their holidays abroad. As a result, it experienced tougher competition and higher-than-usual levels of discounting in the later part of the summer season in August and September.
“After two profit warnings we believe TC may be in a position to announce further cost cuts going forward,” UBS said.
“We argue this would be a good opportunity to close down some of the legacy high-street shops in the UK. For FY19 we expect tour operator capacity to be cut also, reflecting in our opinion the high levels of competition in the market.”
UBS expects Thomas Cook to post EBIT of £289mln for the year, versus the consensus forecast of £311mln. The investment bank said it expects investors to focus on winter and summer schedules, whether the company's airlines can pass through higher fuel costs, free cash flow generation, potential mid-term financial guidance and any contingency plans for the event of a hard Brexit.
Hot customers to benefit Pennon results
Customers cooling down during the hot summer months are likely to have supported water utility Pennon (LON:PNN) during the first half.
The group, which posts its interims on Tuesday, said in a trading update in September that it was on track to meet full-year expectations as revenues at its South West Water business thanks to higher demand and no water restrictions over summer.
But it also said the rise in revenue was expected to be broadly offset by the operational cost of delivery.
South West Water has submitted its business plan to regulator Ofwat for 2020-2025 to ensure it meets requirements for affordable bills and good customer service. The government has been cracking down on utility charges with British Gas owner Centrica warning that a cap on energy bills would hit 2019 earnings.
Meanwhile, Pennon's waste management division, Viridor, has seen a pick-up in recyclate pricing since the end of the last financial year, particularly for paper.
Investors will be keen to hear if Pennon is still on course to meet its full-year expectations now that the cold weather has set in as well as any updates on its regulatory business plan for South West Water.
Go Ahead looks to leave rail issues in the past
Trains and buses operator Go-Ahead Group PLC (LON:GOG) somehow managed to post a rise in profits when it published its full-year results back in September.
A calamitous timetable overhaul led to hundreds of trains being cancelled, but a strong performance from its London buses and a handful of disposals helped profits to rise by 6.5%.
Still, there are a number of challenges facing the bus business outside of London and there is still some uncertainty on the eventual fallout from the recent operational disasters within the Govia Thameslink rail division.
Despite the headwinds, boss David Brown said in the full-year results that he expects a “robust performance” this time around, so investors will be looking for evidence of that in Thursday’s trading update.
Post-World Cup trading eyed at Greene King
Hot weather and the World Cup boosted Greene King PLC’s (LON:GNK) performance over the summer, but investors will be keen to see how it fared without those handy tailwinds when the pUBS group reports its half-year results on Thursday.
Long-serving CEO Rooney Anand recently announced he’s stepping down, so a big change is on the cards at a time when the pub industry is facing numerous headwinds.
Business rates and staff costs are soaring, while pUBS with a larger focus on food, like Greene King has, are battling an intensively competitive and oversupplied casual dining market.
Plans to offset gross cost inflation of around £45mln-£50mln were on track in the first quarter, and we’ll be looking to make sure that’s still the case.
To try to keep margins respectable, Greene King is trying to cut around £50mln from its cost base, savings it was on track to make in the first quarter. The market will be looking to see if this is still the case.
Investors hoping for fizz in Britvic finals
Robinson’s and R Whites brand owner Britvic Plc (LON:BVIC) will be looking to bring some carbonated clout in its final results on Thursday after a year that saw it relatively unscathed by a sugar tax and carbon dioxide shortage that rocked beverage makers across the UK.
The group a 3.4% increase in revenue to £366.9mln for the third quarter to July 8 as soft drink sales were boosted by the summer heat wave in Britain since the implementation of a sugar tax in April.
The firm was relatively protected from the levy due to the fact that some 94% of its owned brands and 72% of its overall portfolio are exempt.
In terms of the CO2 shortage, Britvic offset the impact by temporarily scaling back promotional activity and reallocating some of its secondary feature space to still drinks.
Strategic review key for Pets at Home
Full-year results from Pets at Home PLC (LON:PET) on Tuesday will come alongside a strategic review that should explain how the group plans to tackle a challenging retail environment.
Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown commented: “Management expects profit momentum to continue, but we’ll be keeping an eye on potential flies in the ointment.”
He added: “In order to compete with online sellers, the group’s been cutting prices. That’s kept customers coming through the doors and has helped revenues head in the right direction, but it’s a delicate balancing act and will put pressure on margins. An uptick in Pets’ own online offering wouldn’t go amiss either.
“That said, the roll out of in-store grooming rooms and vet clinics has seen like-for-like sales improve. Costs associated with the vet clinics have risen lately and profitability has been pushed further down the road. A quarter free of cost increases would go down well.”
Christmas rush key for Character Group
Toy seller Character Group PLC (LON:CCT) will be ramping up for the Christmas rush on Friday but it will leave investors with a pre-December package in the form of its final results.
The firm’s UK business has racked up record sales this year, boosted by in-house brands such as Teletubbies and Peppa Pig which it said had been selling “extremely well” in an update in September.
At the time, Character said it was confident in its prospects for the Christmas season, with two of its toys taking two places in the “Dream Dozen” list released by the Toy Retailer Association earlier this month.
Quiz interims to look tatty after profit warning
The atmosphere will be relatively gloomy when clothing retailer Quiz Plc (LON:QUIZ) reports its interims on Tuesday after having issued a profit warning in October.
In a trading update last month, the firm said revenues for the year would miss market forecasts after taking a hit from the collapse of House of Fraser in the first half.
QUIZ took a £0.4mln charge in the first half related to House of Fraser’s entry into administration in August, although revenue in the first half still rose 19% year-on-year to £66.7mln, as an unusually hot summer helped sales.
However, sales online sales through third-party websites were at a similar level to the second half, missing the company’s expectations. QUIZ said it was working closely with its third-party online partners to try to address this performance in the second half.
Little new news expected from Findel
It is only just over a month since Findel PLC (LON:FDL) provided its last update so there should not be too many surprises in these interim results on Wednesday.
Graham Spooner, Investment Research Analyst at The Share Centre noted that trading at the retailer’s main business, Express Gifts, slowed in the second quarter compared to the first, although the company left its guidance for the year unchanged in October.
Nevertheless, he added, investors will be listening carefully for an update on that side of the business, especially as it has now entered the crucial Black Friday and Christmas trading period.
Findel’s education business is still in a turnaround situation but is making steady improvements and the market will be expecting further positive news there, Spooner concluded.
Significant announcements expected week ending Nov 30:
Monday November 26:
Production report: Glencore PLC (Q3) (LON:GLEN)
Finals: Sanderson Group PLC (LON:SND)
Interims: Augmentum Fintech Plc (LON:AUGM), Cake Box Holdings PLC (LON:CBOX), D4t4 Solutions PLC (LON:D4T4), Fusion Antibodies PLC (LON:FAB), Kainos Group PLC (LON:KNOS), Palace Capital Plc (LON:PCA), (LON:POLR), Sysgroup PLC (LON:SYS)
Economic data: German IFO business climate index; US Chicago Fed national activity index; US Dallas Fed manufacturing index
Tuesday November 27:
Trading update: Intertek PLC (Q3) (LON:ITRK), Nostrum Oil & Gas PLC (Q3) (LON:NOG)
Interims: Pennon Group plc (LON:PNN), Pets at Home PLC (LON:PET), Quiz Plc (LON:QUIZ), De La Rue plc (LON:DLAR), Cranswick plc (LON:CWK), Amigo Holdings PLC (Q2) (LON:AMGO), GB Group PLC (LON:GBG), Severfield PLC (LON:SFR), VP Plc (LON:VP.), IG Design Group Plc (LON:IGR), Victoria PLC (LON:VCP)
Finals: Tops Tiles PLC (LON:TPT), Gooch & Housego PLC (LON:GHH), Renewi Holdings PLC (LON:RNWH), Treat PLC (LON:TET), Shaftesbury PLC (LON:SHB), UDG Healthcare PLC (LON:UDG)
AGMs: Allergy Therapeutics PLC (LON:AGY), Scotgold Resources limited (LON:SGZ)
Economic data: CBI UK distributive trades survey; US house price index
Wednesday November 28:
Trading updates: Senior PLC (LON:SNR), Softcat PLC (LON:SCT)
Interims: Findel PLC (LON:FDL), RPC Group PLC (LON:RPC), LondonMetric Property PLC (LON:LMP), Telford Homes plc (LON:TEF), Grafenia Plc (LON:GRA)
Finals: Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC (LON:BRW), On The Beach Group PLC (LON:OTB), Ten Lifestyle Group PLC (LON:TENG), Tharisa plc (LON:THS)
AGMs: Arc Minerals Limited (LON:ARCM), BATM Advanced Communications Ltd (LON:BVC), Range Resources Ltd (LON:RRL), Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR)
Economic data: US GDP; US new home sales; US Richmond Fed manufacturing index
Thursday November 29:
Trading update: Go-Ahead Group PLC (LON:GOG)
Finals: Thomas Cook PLC (LON:TCG), Daily Mail & General Trust PLC (LON:DMGT), Britvic Plc (LONLBVIC), Character Group PLC (LON:CCT), Premier Asset Management Group PLC (LON:PAM), Urban & Civic PLC (LON:UANC)
Interims: Greene King PLC (LON:GNK), BCA Marketplace PLC (LON:BCA), Paypoint PLC (LON:PAY), Motorpoint Group PLC (LON:MOTR), James Latham PLC (LON:LTHM), LXI REIT (LON:LXI), Schollium Group PLC (LON:SCHO), XPS Pensions Group PLC (LON:XPS), Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd. (LON:GEEC)
AGMS: ASOS plc (LON:ASC), Ironridge Resources Limited (LON:IRR)
Ex-dividends to clip 1.56 points off FTSE 100 index: International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC (LON:IAG), Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT), Land Securities PLC (LON:LAND), Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT)
Economic data: US weekly jobless claims; US personal income, spending; US pending home sales
Friday November 30:
Interims: Caffyns PLC (LON:CFYN
Finals: Earthport plc (LON:EPO)
AGMs: DFS Furniture Plc (LON:DFS)
Economic data: US Chicago PMI