The coming week will see results from a number of the market's big hitters from across the economic landscape including high street retailers, luxury goods groups and tobacco makers.
There will also be some key economic data for investors to chew over, notably UK unemployment, inflation and retail sales figures and minutes from the last US Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Imperial Brands eyes regulatory risks
Tuesday will bring half-year results from cigarette maker Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB), with investors likely to seek more clarity on the group’s debt position following news in April that it had decided to offload its hand-rolled cigar business for £958mln to reduce the balance.
The owner of Lambert & Butler said in April that it had seen no material impact from the coronavirus pandemic on its business so far, however, investors are likely to be more concerned with the spectre of increased regulations and restrictions on traditional tobacco products as well as government intervention against newer vaping products.
As a result, investors are likely to be keeping an eye on the firm's sales figures for next-generation products, which the group is pinning its hopes on to stay profitable as cigarettes and other combustibles fall out of fashion.
The results will also be the last set of figures before former Inchcape boss Stefan Bomhard takes over as CEO of the firm on July 1.
Greencore hit by sandwich insights
On the same day there will also be interim results from Greencore Group PLC (LON:GNC), with shares in the maker of microwave meals, sandwiches, wraps, salads, sushi and soups having been on an uncomfortable ride over the past few weeks.
Having reached a three-year high in December, the shares lost more than half of their value in February and March before rallying hard and then diving again in May.
Analysts at Jefferies pointed to data for the three weeks to 30 April showed sandwich sales through grocers, Greencore’s main market, tanked by 60% - way worse than the 30% drop expected.
“[In March] we expected a short, sharp, shock that the balance sheet would be big enough to take,” analysts commented.
“Now, with more insight post-lockdown, we anticipate a deeper and longer shock — one that the balance sheet is still big enough to take, but which is likely to require a more fundamental re-positioning and adjustment of expectations.”
M&S focuses on survival as clothing struggles
One of Greencore's main customers is Marks & Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS), which reports its full-year results on Wednesday, having late last month taken steps to strengthen its balance sheet as it expects clothing sales to struggle for the remainder of 2020.
A 3% rise in food sales for the fourth-quarter is forecast by analysts at UBS, but that will be more than offset by a 10% collapse in Clothing & Home, they think, producing full-year profit before tax of £410mln.
In the past week, the group launched a massive “rainbow sale” to clear its mountain of unsold spring and summer togs, with everything at least half price and 10% of proceeds going to charity, which will spell bad news for profit margins.
While the food business has remained open it hasn’t seen the same uplifts as other grocers due to its city centre, railway station and airport locations, said analyst Sophie Lund-Yates at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“But investors should remember these are full-year results, so it’s important to pay attention to underlying trends before coronavirus too. Food had made some good headway, and we’ll find out if this was still the case before the lockdown disruption hit,” she said.
Having ditched the dividend for this year and next year, M&S said it was taking “very significant” measures to reduce costs, meaning there are likely to be alterations to its previous transformation plans.
“For now M&S’ focus will be on survival, rather than improvement,” said Lund-Yates.
Experian to break the silence
Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) is releasing its finals on Wednesday following solid interims in November, but “it is safe to say times have changed from now”, the Share Centre pointed out in a preview.
Investors have yet to hear on how the data analytics firm is navigating through the coronavirus crisis, though they might be confident thanks to solid revenue growth, strong cash-flows, margins and better diversification after Experian reduced its reliance on banks.
Last time shareholders heard any news was January, when the firm confirmed full-year guidance after sales grew in the third quarter even though revenues fell in the UK and Asia.
Vistry restarts
Vistry Group PLC (LON:VTY) should give a statement alongside its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday having already announced that that it was restarting work on most of its building sites at the end of last month.
The FTSE 250 group, formerly known as Bovis Homes, said then that since the UK coronavirus lockdown came into force it had received 80 cancellations and completed 193 private sales.
Vistry’s share price has fallen by more than 45% since the start of the year, more than almost of all its peers, which analysts at Peel Hunt put down to concerns about its liquidity position.
Updates on sales volumes and house prices, especially with the housing market having been officially “restarted” by the government now, will be of interest.
So far, other major housebuilders haven’t been reporting weaker prices for new homes although sales volumes have fallen, but it’s still unclear how both will move in coming months as the country has moved into a coronavirus-triggered recession.
Pets to impress
Thursday comes with Pets at Home Group PLC’s (LON:PETS) finals, which Peel Hunt in a preview said “are likely to impress”, while current trading will be “at least ok”.
The FTSE 250-listed firm has had a good run during the coronavirus crisis, after being invaded by consumers stockpiling pet products while it was allowed to stay open as an essential retailer.
Pre-tax profit for the year to March 26, 2020, has been forecast by the company to come in “slightly” above market consensus, which was £92mln-£97mln.
The analysts at Peel Hunt expect a 5p final dividend with the final results, to be paid in May, bringing the total to 7.5p for the year.
"Not many retailers are this confident and the underlying business is strong and improving," according to the analysts, adding “this should be a core holding in all weathers”.
Burberry reflects on volatile year
At the end of the week it will be Burberry Group PLC's turn (LON:BRBY), reflecting on what has been a turbulent year for the luxury clothing maker.
First it was the trade war between the US and China that weighed on demand in the company’s Asian market in combination with pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and since January coronavirus lockdowns have squeezed the region’s economies.
With many of the group's shops closed in the final quarter of the financial year to 31 March, the company has already indicated that sales would fall by around 30% for the quarter and that its final dividend is also likely to take a hit.
Key will be the company’s online operation, which will either indicate that customer shopping habits have shifted to the internet or if shoppers have decided to hold off luxury purchases entirely during the crisis.
Macro matters
UK unemployment figures on Tuesday will cover the three months to the end of March, so they will only catch a small effect of the coronavirus lockdown.
More interesting may be unemployment claimant count data showing the effect in April.
The Office for National Statistics will follow this with inflation data for April on Wednesday and retail sales numbers on Friday.
“Oil fell further in April so that could weigh on the headline figure but it will be interesting to see how the [inflation] numbers work out, given the depressed overall level of economic activity and the reduced level of transactions upon which to base the figures, although food buying could have conceivably had an upward effect,” according to analysts at AJ Bell.
“If there is any good news here, is it that wage growth was running well ahead of inflation, even if had been cooling for a while. Those lucky enough to keep their jobs will therefore have been better off in real terms and be potentially better placed to spend a little more when they are finally allowed to leave their homes and roam a little more freely than they are at the moment.”
On Thursday there will be flash purchasing managers index (PMI) surveys for the manufacturing and services industries in the UK, US and other countries so far in May.
The other big macro events overseas will be US jobless claims on Thursday, with Federal Reserve minutes possibly of interest to some.
Significant announcements expected for week ending May 22:
Monday May 18:
Finals: LXI REIT PLC (LON:LXI)
AGMs: Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN), Sigmaroc PLC (LON:SRC)
Tuesday 19 May:
Trading announcements: Glenveagh Properties PLC (LON:GLV)
Finals: Speedy Hire PLC (LON:SDY), DCC PLC (LON:DCC), Homeserve PLC (LON:HSV)
Interims: Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB), Shoe Zone PLC (LON:SHOE), Topps Tiles PLC (LON:TPT), UDG Healthcare PLC (LON:UDG), Avon Rubber PLC (LON:AVON), Greencore Group PLC (LON:GNC), Hardide Plc (LON:HDD), Renew Holdings PLC (LON:RNWH), Tritax Eurobox PLC (LON:EBOX)
AGMs: Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB)
Economic data: UK unemployment
Wednesday 20 May:
Trading announcements: Vistry Group PLC (LON:VTY), Coats Group PLC (LON:COA)
Finals: Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS), Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT), Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY), Experian PLC (LON:EXPN), Great Portland Estates PLC (LON:GPOR), HICL Infrastructure PLC (LON:HICL), Wincanton Plc (LON:WIN)
Interims: Compass Group PLC (LON:CPG), IXICO PLC (LON:IXI)
Economic data: UK inflation, UK PPI, US Fed minutes
Thursday 21 May:
Trading announcements: Essentra PLC (LON:ESNT), Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK), Regional REIT Ltd (LON:RGL), Hilton Food Group PLC (LON:HFG), Inchcape PLC (LON:INCH)
Finals: Pets at Home Group PLC (LON:PETS), Tate & Lyle PLC (LON:TATE), Assura PLC (LON:AGR), Mediclinic International Plc (LON:MDC), System1 Group PLC (LON:SYS1), Universe Group PLC (LON:UNG), Investec PLC (LON:INVP), NewRiver REIT plc (LON:NRR), QinetiQ Group PLC (LON:QQ.)
Interims: AJ Bell PLC (LON:AJB), Oxford Metrics PLC (LON:OMG), Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (LON:ERM), Integrafin Holdings PLC (LON:IHP)
FTSE 100 ex-dividends to knock 3.37 points off the index: Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO), WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW), Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK)
Economic data: UK manufacturing PMI, UK services PMI, US weekly jobless claims, US manufacturing PMI, US services PMI
Friday 22 May:
Trading announcements: Close Brothers Group PLC (LON:CBG), Spectris PLC (LON:SXS)
Finals: Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY), United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU.), SSE PLC (LON:SSE)
Interims: Future PLC (LON:FUTR)
Economic data: UK retail sales