Next PLC (LSE:NXT) is expected to dominate the corporate calendar on Wednesday, followed by train ticket seller Trainline PLC (LSE:TRN) in the mid-cap index.
Macroeconomic releases will mostly come from the US, with PMI composite and PMI services likely to be the key data for investors.
No more upgrades for Next?
Next is posting its much-awaited third-quarter update on Wednesday and the market, as usual, has high expectations.
The FTSE 100 retailer has been going from strength to strength and emerged from the pandemic even better than before, having picked up market share from fallen high street competitors and playing its cards well in terms of online shopping.
Having a penchant for modest forecasts, it has been reporting better than predicted sales a few times in a row.
Analysts at UBS forecast online full-price sales growth of 44% compared to 2019, retail down 3% and finance down 6%.
They also expect full-year profit before tax to come in at £820mln, which is higher than the company’s estimate of £800mln, however they don’t expect further upgrades.
“Next already upgraded full-year 2022 profit before tax guidance (for the fourth time) at the interims, only a month ago and most of the scope for upside surprise comes in the fourth quarter given current guidance implies a significant slowdown compared to the third quarter. The fourth quarter is also Next’s largest period in absolute sales given peak trading,” the Swiss bank commented.
“We would expect the market to focus on any further news around key short-term debates such as stock levels and seasonal worker availability.”
Trainline at the barrier
Investors in online ticker-seller Trainline will be hoping for a continuation of its recovery from COVID disruption.
In September’s trading update, the FTSE 250 firm flagged a 179% jump in ticket sales over the six months to the end of August. For that period, revenues at the group rose 151% to £78mln and it said it expected to post an underlying interim profit of between £13-15mln.
At that time, it guided that net ticket sales for 2021 would be in the range of £2.4-2.8bn and underlying profits of between £35-40mln.
The market will keenly eye the actual interim results to confirm the financial performance and get an updated outlook through the remainder of this year.
Significant announcements expected for Wednesday 3 November:
Trading updates: Coca Cola HBC AG (LSE:CCH), Next PLC, Amryt Pharma PLC (AIM:AMYT, NASDAQ:AMYT), Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) A/S, Smurfit Kappa Group plc (LSE:SKG)
Interims: Braemar Shipping Services (LSE:BMS) PLC, Esken Ltd (LSE:ESKN), Trainline PLC
Finals: Nanoco Group PLC (LSE:NANO)
AGMs: Hansard Global (LSE:HSD) PLC, Manchester and London Investment Trust PLC
Economic Data: MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Factory Orders (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US), PMI Composite (US), PMI Services (US), ISM Prices Paid (US), ISM Services (US)