London will be the centre of market attention on Wednesday as Wall Street shuts up shop for the funeral of former president George HW Bush.
The mourning won’t stop a selection of UK companies reporting however, with fashion retailer Joules and European booze retailer Stock Spirits scheduled to report a trading update and final results respectively.
For economic data, there will be some news from both sides of the Atlantic with both the US and UK services PMIs.
Joules continues to buck the trend
Another British fashion retailer, Joules Ltd (LON:JOUL) is expected to deliver further growth in 2019 after bucking the market trend last year with solid earnings.
Despite a tough retail market, the firm’s pre-tax profit rose 28.5% to £13.0mln and revenue increased 18.4% to £185.9mln in the year to May 27 with higher sales in both retail and wholesale.
AIM-listed Joules is due to report a pre-close trading update, which covers the 26 weeks to November 25, on Wednesday.
Analysts at Liberum said there are many strategic reasons that provide Joules with more protection than other peers in a difficult market.
“This comes down to a merchandising, pricing and overall retail strategy that is highly adaptable,” the analyst said.
Unlike other high street retailers that have struggled against online competition, Joules excels in e-commerce.
The e-commerce and wholesale businesses drove 70% of sales growth in fiscal years 2016 to 2018. Liberum expects the two divisions to account for 80% of growth in 2020 to 2021.
Meanwhile, Joules recently switched a wholesale agreement to sell through John Lewis over to a concession arrangement with the department store chain. Liberum thinks this should allow for improved sell-through rates in fiscal 2019 due to better merchandising, availability and overall improved retailing.
The broker expects Joules to post revenue of £215mln and pre-tax profit of £14.8mln in 2019.
Stock Spirits to toast lower net debt, strong full-year numbers
Central and Eastern Europe-focused spirits producer Stock Spirits Group PLC (LON:STCK) will be looking to toast the fruits of lower net debt and strong performance in its core markets when it reports in full-year results on Wednesday.
In a pre-close trading update in October, Stock said for the nine months to 30 September had been in line with expectations, adding that its Polish and Czech markets, which account for three-quarters of revenues, had shown strong growth in both volume and value terms.
The firm also said during the period net debt had fallen to €32mln from €53mln in December 2017 due to “strong” group cash flow.
Significant announcements expected:
Wednesday December 5:
US Markets closed for President George HW Bush's funeral
Trading update: Joules Group PLC (LON:JOUL)
Interims: Stagecoach PLC (LONLSGC), Tricorn Group PLC (LON:TCN), Monks Investment Trust PLC (LON:MONK)
Finals: Stock Spirits Group PLC (LON:STCK), PCF Group Plc (LON:PCF), Numis Corporation PLC (LON:NUM), Majedie Investments PLC (LON:MAJE)
Traffic numbers: International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC (LON:IAG)
AGMs: Ceres Power PLC (LON:CWR)
Economic data: UK services PMI; US ISM non-manufacturing; US services PMI; Fed Beige Book