Tuesday's main corporate items to watch include contract caterer Compass and DIY retailer Kingfisher, offering two sides of the pandemic coin.
Focusing on Compass Group (LSE:CPG), investors will be hoping reports that more of them are starting to be served up when the FTSE 100 contract caterer updates on trading on Tuesday.
The last update showed some progress but due to cost controls such as renegotiating contracts, managing costs and resizing the business.
Revenues and profits tumbled 32% and 83% in the six months to 31 March and the statement will be keenly watched for signs of improvement in sales.
Compass has a big presence in work canteens and with the debate about working from home against returning to the office still raging, some reassurance about medium-term prospects here would also be welcome.
“Compass Group has an overreliance on corporate demand for food services, which has been decimated by a newfound appetite for homeworking in the UK and the US,” said Harry Barnick, senior analyst at Third Bridge.
That might explain why the shares have marked time for almost a year while other sectors have recovered.
Can Kingfisher outfly second-half headwinds
Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF) (LSE:KGF), the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, on the other hand was one of the beneficiaries of the lockdowns last year and in January, when people were forced to focus on their houses and gardens.
This year the company has twice upped its guidance for sales and profits, with the first half of 2021’s like-for-like sales up 22% and adjusted pre-tax profit to come in between £645mln and £600mln compared to £415mln a year ago.
With the big numbers covered for the first half, investors and analysts will be looking towards the outlook for the second-half to January 2022 against a tough comparison from last year.
Also look out for a potential £1bn worth of dividends, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
Comment on inflation might also be telling, with Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS.) mentioning Kingfisher as one company with the sort of ‘pricing power’ to alleviate the pressure from rising input costs and pass through any price rises they face rather than materially sacrificing margins.
Significant events expected on Tuesday 21 September:
Finals: Litigation Capital Management (AIM:LIT) Ltd, Time Finance plc (AIM:TIME)
Interims: Alliance Pharma PLC (AIM:APH, FRA:DVL), Alphawave IP Group PLC (LSE:IPO) (LSE:AWE), Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (AIM:COG), Dignity (LSE:DTY) plc, Fintel plc, JTC PLC (LSE:JTC), Kingfisher plc, Learning Technologies Group plc, M&C Saatchi PLC (AIM:SAA), Pensionbee plc, Personal Group plc, SIG PLC (LSE:SHI)
Trading announcements: Compass Group plc
Economic data: UK public sector net borrowing, CBI industrial trends orders