The final day of what has been a tumultuous week for both markets and the wider world will be a quiet affair as far as the corporate calendar is concerned, with JD Wetherspoon PLC (LON:JDW) and Investec PLC (LON:INVP) the only firms scheduled to deliver updates.
Spoons has already jumped the gun ahead of its interim results as the publican released a brief update for the start of 2020 last week.
The FTSE 250 group reported that like-for-like sales in the first six weeks ended 8 March, so the beginning of the second half of the year, were up 3.2% while total sales were up 2.9%, meaning the group is on track for the fourth successive quarter of slowing growth.
Results for the half-year to end-January will include second-quarter growth of to 4.7%, which was the slowest growth for eight quarters but still outperforming the wider market.
Spoons said the more recent numbers were “more adversely affected by poor weather than by the [coronavirus] health scare” and that its full-year outlook was unchanged.
Investors' eyes will be on the medium-term as the new government containment measures to limit the spread of the virus will likely keep people away from pubs and beer gardens in the coming months.
Analysts at Liberum, however, are upbeat about the long term, saying they expected pubs to be “resilient based on loyal customer behaviour and portfolio diversification”.
Significant announcements expected for Friday 20 March:
Interims: JD Wetherspoon PLC (LON:JDW)
Trading announcements: Investec PLC (LON:INVP)
AGMs: Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHG)