Of all industries, those tied to entertainment are naturally among those in focus for investors, accordingly, Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) will be a highlight on Thursday.
Keywords is publishing its full-year results on Thursday, which have been delayed as per FCA guidance.
The services provider to the videogame industry has 59 studios in 21 countries, so it has already seen some disruption and it is drawing from experiences in countries that were hit the hardest such as China and Italy.
Chinese operations were said to be almost back to full production at the end of March, so investors will want to know how they are progressing.
The firm is still delivering most of the services via remote working and is seeing more demand, although it said it may not manage to meet all clients’ requests due to safety measures - another issue to update the market on.
As previously announced, revenues are set to be 30% higher than last year at €326mln, for adjusted profit before tax up 8% to €41mln.
Rentokil pivots to hygiene
Having said last month that it is training staff to support increased demand for hygiene services such as disinfection from the coronavirus pandemic, Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO) will provide an update to the market on Thursday.
This trading statement is due to cover first-quarter trading performance and further information on the potential impact of coronavirus for the pest control group.
In its update on 25 March, the FTSE 100 company said trading to mid-March was “not materially impacted” by the outbreak, with China operations back to servicing around 75% of customers by that point, but service levels in Italy reduced by around 40%, a major worsening hit in the final weeks of the month.
This led to the scrapping of its dividend and financial guidance for the year and costs being slashed.
Thursday 16 April:
Trading announcements: Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO), Hays PLC (LON:HAS), Norcros PLC (LON:NXR), Ashmore Group PLC (LON:ASHM), PZ Cussons PLC (LON:PZC)
Finals: Learning Technologies Group PLC (LON:LTG). Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS)
FTSE 100 ex-dividends to knock 5.8 points off the index: Smurfit Kappa Group plc (LON:SKG), Croda International PLC (LON:CRDA), Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LON:RB.), St. James’s Place PLC (LON:STJ), M&G PLC (LON:MNG)
Economic data: UK retail sales, US jobless claims