Under new management, Barclays Plc reports on Wednesday as the banking sector appears as a cash machine for shareholders.
Nat West and HSBC have kept investors with their updates in recent days, both showing healthy financials and returns, across dividends and buybacks.
Significantly, it will be the first set of results on the watch of new chief executive CS “call me Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, who replaced Jes Staley in November.
“No doubt Barclays will be looking to put its (bad) habit of firing (or losing) chief executives behind it when it reports its 2021 results,” quipped the pundits at AJ Bell.
“Analysts are looking for a 2021 full-year pre-tax profit of £8.1 billion. That compares to 2020’s £3.1 billion and would outstrip the pre-financial crisis peak of £7.1 billion achieved in 2006.
“It also implies a profit for the fourth quarter alone of just under £1.2 billion, the lowest quarter of the year, although that is relatively normal for banks as they tend to clean up and clear out their books in the final three-month period. (Even then it represents a big step up on 2020’s fourth-quarter result of £646 million),” the investment firm added.
The performance of the investment bank – a division dear to the departed Staley’s heart – could come under scrutiny, as growth appears to be slowing.
Ted Baker
Ted Baker will be releasing its year-end update, with investors hoping to see some drastic improvement to suggest a share price that has fallen over 96% since early 2018.
The company, which is currently led by former Debenhams finance chief Rachel Osborne, was starting to show some promise last year, with new clothing ranges building momentum, although the company was still lagging behind on e-commerce sales.
Last month, the company appointed a former Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen and Jack Wills executive as chief customer, marketing and digital officer, with Osborne saying the “extensive experience will be invaluable as we continue to progress with the turnaround”.
House broker Liberum said the business “is in much better shape now than any time in the past,” in a note this month, highlighting the new creative team and capital-light business model.
Wednesday 23 February
Trading announcements: Clinigen Group PLC, Ted Baker PLC
Interims: Avingtrans PLC, Cap-XX Ltd, Netcall
Finals: Barclays PLC, Capital and Counties Properties PLC, Georgia Capital PLC, Photo-Me International PLC, Rio Tinto PLC UNITE Group PLC
AGMs: Blencowe Resources PLC, Gooch & Housego, Income & Growth VCT PLC, RWS Holdings PLC, Tharisa PLC, Titon Holdings PLC
Economic data: MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US)