The business agenda for Tuesday and beyond has been thrown into confusion after the City watchdog told companies to hold back from publishing their annual results because of the coronavirus crisis.
Over the weekend, the Financial Conduct Authority sent instructions to all listed companies to “observe a moratorium on the publication of preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks”.
The restrictions do not apply to AIM companies, however.
Coronavirus and the response by governments is moving so fast that the FCA said these were such unpredictable, shifting sands for companies reporting and planning for the year ahead.
“It is important that due consideration is given by companies to these events in preparing their disclosures. Observing timetables set before this crisis arose may not give companies the necessary time to do this,” the regulator said.
Despite prompting speculation that the moratorium may be the prelude to a full markets shutdown, media reports suggested this was not necessarily the case.
Companies due to deliver results in the next two weeks include Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF), AG Barr PLC (LON:BAG), Fevertree Drinks PLC (LON:FEVR), 888 Holdings PLC (LON:888), YouGov PLC (LON:YOU) and Burford Capital Limited (LON:BUR) on Tuesday.
Many of these results may be rushed out later on Monday, or could be replaced by a temporary trading statement if the company has not issued an update lately.
Ahead of its final results, Kingfisher had already notified of “immediate and significant measures” being taken across the group, as well as giving details of its liquidity situation.
Last Monday, the Anglo-French DIY retailer, which is being relegated from the FTSE 100 this month after a long share price decline, said it had shuttered all its stores in France and Spain because of the coronavirus lockdowns there - so there may be an update on the UK chains B&Q and Screwfix.
Drink maker Fevertree could still put out an update bearing bad news, as the hospitality sector has taken some of the hardest hits from the coronavirus outbreak.
The AIM-listed firm already issued a profit warning in January and predicted lower revenue in the US in the new financial year, as it planned to make heavier investments to build market share, but with many cities on lockdown it may get even worse.
Irn-Bru maker AG Barr might have been expected to have made some progress over the year before the coronavirus outbreak.
As people stay indoors and focus on only purchasing the essentials, fizzy drinks are unlikely to find their way onto shopping lists in most households, although it may be too soon to know just what the impact of the outbreak will be.
As a result, investors could still expected an update on current trading and whether or not the company will follow the lead of other firms in suspending its dividend.
Significant announcements that had been expected on Tuesday 24 March:
Finals: Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF), AG Barr PLC (LON:BAG), Fevertree Drinks PLC (LON:FEVR), 888 Holdings PLC (LON:888), Burford Capital Limited (LON:BUR), Eve Sleep PLC (LON:EVE), Accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO), Alliance Pharma PLC (LON:APH), Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (LON:COG), Learning Technologies Group PLC (LON:LTG), Mears Group PLC (LON:MER), Pelatro PLC (LON:PTRO), Personal Group Holdings PLC (LON:PGH), S&U PLC (LON:SUS), STM Group Plc (LON:STM), Xaar PLC (LON:XAR), Zotefoams PLC (LON:ZTF)
Interims: YouGov PLC (LON:YOU), Essensys PLC (LON:ESYS)
Economic data: UK flash PMIs, BoE statement, US flash PMIs