Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, is shaping up to be a relatively quiet day for company news, although there will likely be plenty of activity among retailers as shopper rush to take advantage of the traditional litany of deals (or lack thereof depending on who you ask).
Sarah Coles, a personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, has warned shoppers to be wary of various tactics retailers may use to encourage unneeded purchases, particularly time-limited deals, artificial scarcity, a saturation of promotional emails and raising prices of previously discounted stock under the guise of a discount.
Back to the company diary, investors will be eyeing a trading update from media group Reach, the owner of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express tabloids, while on the macro front some may be interested in November UK house price data from Nationwide.
Can Reach reach new highs?
The week ends with Reach PLC’s (LON:RCH) trading update, which analysts at Peel Hunt believe will have to be radical for the shares to materially advance.
The stock has already doubled in a month after the good momentum created by the positive interims in September continued to be supported by the vaccine news.
“The refocusing away from Covid towards the release of the value inherent in the online audience should be welcome, but Reach does have a lot of ground to catch up,” said the broker.
“Meanwhile exceptionals, deferred consideration and the pension continues to absorb the well harvested cash.”
Significant announcements for Friday November 27:
Trading updates: Reach PLC (LON:RCH)
Interims: Carclo PLC (LON:CAR), HarbourVest Global Private Equity Ltd (LON:HVPE)
Finals: Benchmark Holdings PLC (LON:BMK)