Retailer Dunelm plc is set to be the key name on Wednesday’s corporate calendar, with all attention on company releases rather than economic data.
Fellow FTSE 250 constituent Biffa PLC (LSE:BIFF) is due a trading announcement, while Bakkavor plc, Inspecs Group plc and Pebble Beach plc will post their interims.
Dunelm’s investors may be hard to comfort
Dunelm customers spent 2020 (comfortably) on their backsides but now in 2021 investors are sat on the bones of theirs.
The share is down around 15% in the past year as the soft furnishings firm fell from favour as a lockdown play, as investors have sought out more exciting recovery plays.
Even “very upbeat” trading updates failed to lure back interest, AJ Bell analysts said in a note this week.
“Soft furnishings and homewares retailer Dunelm’s business model proved ideally suited to the pandemic - and lockdown-blighted year of 2020, as its website kept customers served and those customers spent money on their house which may have otherwise gone on holidays or other items,” AJ Bell commented.
However, investors’ affections in 2021 have – so far at least – switched to those firms which may show a faster recovery going forward, if only because their sales, profits and cash flows took a big hit during the worst of the viral outbreak.”
The latest upbeat update in July, with the fourth quarter trading statement, so whilst there’s likely been some interest in Dunelm’s results on Wednesday, but it may prove to be a tough crowd.
Significant announcements expected for Wednesday 8 September:
Finals: Dunelm plc, Frontier Developments (AIM:FDEV) plc
Interims: Bakkavor plc, Inspecs Group plc, Pebble Beach plc
Trading announcements: Biffa PLC