I’m normally cursing my editor this time on a Thursday as I scratch around for anything to write for the preview on Friday, which is often the quietest day of the trading week.
This Friday is different though, with ad giant WPP PLC (LON:WPP), online property portal Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV), bookmaker William Hill plc (LON:WMH) and The London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LON:LSE) itself all set to publish their final results for 2018.
Strategy still key at WPP
Investors in WPP may be getting used to Sorrell-less result days, nevertheless, attention will be closely on the progress being made on the strategy set out by new boss Mark Read when the advertising giant reports full-year results on Friday.
The firm updated the market in December on its plans to spend £300mln over the next three years with the funds going on technology and talent.
The company - which saw founder and chief executive Martin Sorrell leave amid allegations of personal misconduct in April - said it would save £275mln by the end of 2021 by reducing the number of agencies it runs.
"The restructuring of our business will enable increased investment in creativity, technology and talent, enhancing our capabilities in the categories with the greatest potential for future growth,” Read said then.
Not a huge amount of time has passed since the December update and, naturally for a results statement, the group’s finances will also be on the agenda.
Some comfort may be had in the fact that ad firm has promised to prioritise dividends over share buybacks and acquisitions – It expects to declare a final dividend of 37.3p, taking the total pay-out to 60p, unchanged from the preceding year.
Slowing housing market to hurt Rightmove
Elsewhere among the blue-chips, property website group Rightmove will report its 2018 numbers on Friday.
The FTSE 100-listed firm’s sUBScription-based model means fewer housing transactions and lower property prices don’t have a direct impact on revenues.
But analysts think the group won’t completely escape a downturn with a struggling housing market bad news for Rightmove’s customers - estate agents.
Rightmove listings site is vital for the industry, but with the vast majority of the UK’s estate agents already signed up, revenue growth relies on price hikes.
The question is how much Rightmove can squeeze before the pips start to squeak, and with several large estate agents cutting their office numbers the squeaking is getting louder.
Switch to online hitting William Hill
Bookmakers may be among the few businesses that still call the British high street home, nevertheless, even their time may be expiring.
The traditional betting shop has to adapt if it is to survive. As with shopping, gambling is becoming increasingly popular online, while regulatory changes, such as new lIMIts on fixed odds betting terminals, have also dented betting shops’ profits.
So it is that William Hill is working to “remodel” its in-store offering as last month it flagged declining footfall amid an expected 15% slump in 2018 profits.
Without giving any exact figures, the group said profits in the retail division fell year-on-year, “challenged by wider high street conditions”.
The FTSE 250-listed firm said its online business produced a “good underlying performance”, although new customer checks aimed at protecting problem gamblers weighed on profitability.
Overall, in the January trading update, William Hill said its 2018 adjusted operating plunged to £234mln in 2018, down from £291mln a year earlier, a figure expected to be confirmed in Friday’s full-year results.
Brexit may not be too far away from marketplace chit-chat and the deadline looms, nonetheless, the company literally at the heart of the City’s securities market has been doing business in Brussels.
Europe still a destination for the LSE
The London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LON:LSE), which also owns Borsa Italia as well as the eponymous London stock trading business, last month took a 4.92% stake in Belgium-based clearing house Euroclear for €278.5mln.
The exchange said then that the investment in Euroclear will strengthen their existing relationship and provide “further opportunities for the companies deliver benefits to their customers through commercial collaboration and product development”.
In terms of business performance, analysts at RBC Capital recently flagged that the LCH clearing services and the FTSE Russell information services units were seeing particularly strong growth, something the City will be looking out for in Friday’s full-year results.
As for information services, analysts expect a “considerable deceleration” in top-line growth, from double-digit to high single-digit.
Analysts at UBS forecast the LSE’s second half gross revenue coming in at £1.06bn, while they see gross profit at £951mln, and adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) will amount to £523mln.
Significant events expected on Friday March 1:
Finals: WPP PLC (LON:WPP), William Hill plc (LON:WMH), London Stock Exchange PLC (LON:LSE), Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV), Jupiter Fund Management PLC (LON:JUP), Robert Walters PLC (LON:RWA), IMI PLC (LON:IMI), Essentra PLC (LON:ESNT), Man Group PLC (LON:EMG)
Interims: Revolution Bars PLC (LON:RBG)
Economic data: UK manufacturing PMI; US manufacturing PMI; US ISM manufacturing; US personal income, consumption