Thursday will bring half-year results from newspaper group Daily Mail & General Trust PLC (LON:DMGT).
Investors are unlikely to be looking forward to the figures after the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday suspended its full-year guidance as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales, particularly at its Events and Exhibitions and Consumer Media businesses.
As a result, shareholders are likely to look out for how serious the damage will be as well as how healthy the company’s balance sheet is and how the firm is planning to ride out the effects of the crisis.
All eyes on IWG renewals
IWG PLC (LON:IWG) will break a two-month silence, maintained since an update in March when the serviced offices group issues a trading statement on Thursday.
In March, the group suspended its dividend and its share repurchase programme, while flagging expected pressure on its businesses from the coronavirus pandemic.
In a preview, Peel Hunt said the immediate impact will be limited, considering many of its tenants will have at least six months left on their leases so it is the rate of renewals that now matters.
“We are assuming that renewal rates drop to 40%, from a usual 70%, in April-June, although rent suspension in exchange for a contract lengthening might make this too pessimistic,” the Peel Hunt analysts said.
“Renewals are a metric that IWG does not normally communicate hence, even if it is quantified, it will require comparative period data and a level of detail that may not be forthcoming, hence we will have to look at general occupancy rates which give only limited clarity.”
IWG's occupancy rates rose to 78% in the first quarter of 2020, up from 75% in the last quarter of 2019.
“Over time, we would expect new business from tenants seeking flexible office space at a time of uncertainty, but this will take time to work through,” the Peel Hunt analysts concluded.
Significant events expected on Thursday:
Trading update: IWG PLC (LON:IWG)
Finals: Filta Group Holdings PLC (LON:FLTA), PayPoint PLC (LON:PAY), Urban Exposure PLC (LON:UEX)
Interims: Daily Mail & General Trust PLC (LON:DMGT)
Economic data: US weekly jobless claims, US GDP