Another big week for company results kicks off on Monday with Bunzl but company statements are likely to be overshadowed by the crisis in Ukraine and the US non-farm payroll job numbers on Friday
Monday 28 February
All eyes will be on margin as Bunzl PLC (LSE:BNZL) reports its full-year results on Monday.
The margin figure will effectively signal whether the company is still earning enough from PPE orders and if the company sees spiking oil/plastic/pulp prices continuing through the first quarter.
Tuesday 1 March
Place your bets. Who is faring best out of Entain PLC (LSE:ENT), owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, and Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR), owner of Paddy Power and Betfair?
Flutter is first out of the traps on Tuesday and analysts are expecting the bookie to report turnover of £5.97bn for 2021, up 35% on 2020, and pre-tax profit of £628mln, up 530%, while underlying earnings are expected to rise 145% to £1.01bn.
“We expect the focus to be on the latest developments in the US and the path to profitability there, any potential update on the arbitration process with FOX and the UK’s review of the Gambling Act,” according to UBS.
Dividends have been suspended since the dark days of April 2020 when the pandemic caused the cancellation of thousands of sporting events but the time must be fast approaching when the divi will be reinstated.
Builders merchant Travis Perkins (LSE:TPK) should report a near 26% rise in like-for-like sales for the year just ended, brokers predict, with fourth-quarter revenues up 10%.
Materials for home building are seeing strong demand despite inflationary pressures which in any case are being passed on to customers.
Now shorn of Wickes, broker forecasts are for the building merchant to achieve £361mln of underlying profits.
Wednesday 2 March
Full-year results from housebuilders Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) and Vistry Group PLC (LSE:VTY) will reflect strong demand in 2021, but uncertainties lie ahead.
Persimmon's sales should be up 10% in 2021, with profit before tax up 12%, as home building recovered from disrupted seasonal patterns of 2020 brought on by Covid restrictions.
Vistry's sales increase will be around 33%, according to the consensus forecast, with profits before tax growth of 141%, and a 5 percentage point increase to the company’s EBIT margin.
Looking at the bigger picture, house prices are still rising but the interest rate cycle has turned and this might threaten the stability of the home builders.
There have been two rate hikes already this year and two more are expected shortly though the fall-out from the situation in Ukraine will have some bearing on this.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors forecasts house price growth in 2022 between 3% and 5%, compared with 10.8% in 2021.
Rising costs are another headwind with Persimmon already flagging the issue, though so far it has been able to absorb these through higher selling prices.
The cladding uncertainty is another problem but UBS still expects a recovery in building to continue in 2022, with Persimmon’s guided volumes to recover to 95-100% of 2019 levels, and Vistry to grow housing volumes by 2%.
Thursday 3 March
Darktrace PLC (LSE:DARK) releases first-half results on 3 March after a disappointing share price performance over the past six months.
That’s despite the cybersecurity company upgrading its full-year guidance in January.
Thursday’s results will be a chance for the company to confirm it is on course to achieve annual recurring revenue growth of between 37% and 38.5%, up from previous guidance of 34% and 36%.
The awarding of a multi-million-dollar contract with an unnamed multinational electronic corporation recently highlights the growing online risk generally and has helped spark a modest recovery.
What it says about the threat of a new cyber cold war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be worth noting.
Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.) will announce 2021 results against a wave of cladding remediation, increased planning costs and interest rate hikes that are all likely to put downward pressure on the company’s balance sheet.
Results for 2021 are expected to reflect a low-interest rate, high house price growth market which the company last month said meant home completions rose by 47% , but headwinds abound for 2022.
The housing developer potentially faces a costly cladding remediation bill following UK Government plans to force housing developers like Taylor Wimpey to foot a £4bn bill.
The group also upset activist investor Elliot Advisors with its appointment of Jennie Daly, an internal candidate, as chief executive after the investor pressured the company to recruit an outsider, in a sign of boardroom fights to come.
Entain announces its full-year results on Thursday having already divulged some of its key performance indicators.
“Entain’s already offered a preview of what to expect at the full year, and it looks promising.
“The group revealed that overall net gaming revenue (NGR) was up 8% for the year, driven by a strong online performance.
“As that’s a higher-margin part of the business, profits are expected to rise at a faster clip. Management’s guided for underlying cash profits between £875mln and £885mln,” said Hargreaves Lansdown’s Laura Hoy.
“Further growth is expected in online and management’s take on the direction of travel as we exit the pandemic. BetMGM will also be a key segment to watch, CEO Jette Nygaard-Anderson called it out as ‘a particular highlight’, so the market could be expecting big things
The consensus is for revenue of £3.84bn and underlying profits [EBITDA] of £877.5mln. Analysts are predicting a dividend of 21.2p.
Revenue growth will be the key thing for investors from the London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE:LSEG) in the fourth quarter of 2021, say analysts. The Data & Analytics division will be the main focus, given it is the main source of recurring revenues.
Engineer Melrose has been pointing to a recovery in its aerospace focused businesses and confirmation of this will be welcomed by investors with the full-year numbers. Consensus forecasts are for revenues of £7.47bn and underlying profits of £379mln.
Friday 4 March
Friday is the monthly US non-farm payrolls jobs update and comes at a time of rampant US inflation, a trend likely to be made worse by the situation in Ukraine as oil prices climb.
The US Fed meets on 16 March to decide whether to hike US interest rates and whether these numbers for February will have an impact on its thinking is debatable.
The last two sets were stronger than expected with December’s number revised up to 510,000 from 199,000 and January seeing a better than predicted 467,000 new job additions.
Importantly, the average hourly US wage reached $31.63, up 5.7% year-on-year.
The consensus forecast is for 438,000 jobs to have been added this month, though more conservative forecasts are around the 350,000 mark.
Shopping centre owner Hammerson (LSE:HMSO) PLC issues full-year results on Friday with the company having announced in late January that adjusted earnings will be in the £75-80mln range. Gross rental income was tipped to come in ahead of market expectations after UK sales remained strong around Christmas.
Major announcements due
Monday 28 February
Trading announcements: Kosmos Energy Ltd (LSE:KOS, NYSE:KOS), Associated British Foods
Finals: BATM Advanced Communications Ltd (LSE:BVC, OTC:BTAVF), Bunzl PLC (LSE:BNZL), CentralNic Group PLC (AIM:CNIC), GlobalData PLC (AIM:DATA), Greencoat Renewables PLC (LSE:GRP), Kitwave Group LTD
AGMs: Ramsdens Holdings PLC (AIM:RFX)
Economic Data: Nationwide House Price Index (UK), Chicago PMI (US)
Tuesday 1 March
Interims: Pci-Pal PLC, Revolution Bars Group PLC
Finals: Abrdn PLC (LSE:ABDN), Croda International PLC (LSE:CRDA), Flutter Entertainment, GetBusy PLC (AIM:GETB), Intertek Group Plc (LSE:ITRK), IWG PLC (LSE:IWG), Man Group (LSE:EMG) PLC, PPHE Hotel Group Ltd, Quartix Technologies, RHI Magnesita N.V, Rotork PLC (LSE:ROR), Travis Perkins (LSE:TPK) PLC, Uniphar PLC (AIM:UPR), Vitec Group (LSE:VTC) PLC, XP Power Limited
AGMs: Velocity Composites PLC
Economic Data: PMI Manufacturing (US) Construction Spending (US), Consumer Credit (UK), M4 Money Supply (UK), Mortgage Approvals (UK), PMI Manufacturing (UK)
Wednesday 2 March
Interims: Hotel Chocolat Group PLC (AIM:HOTC)
Finals: Apax Global Alpha Limited, Aviva PLC (LSE:AV.), Devro PLC (LSE:DVO), Hiscox PLC, KRM22 PLC (AIM:KRM, OTC:KRMCF), MusicMagpie PLC, Nichols PLC (AIM:NICL), Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN), Polymetal International PLC (LSE:POLY), Trustpilot Group PLC (LSE:TRST), Vistry Group PLC (LSE:VTY)
AGMs: Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure Trust PLC, Mila Resources PLC (LSE:MILA), Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG), River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap Investment Company
Economic Data: ISM Manufacturing (US), ISM Prices Paid (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US), BRC Shop Price Index (UK)
Thursday 3 March
Interims: Allergy Therapeutics PLC (AIM:AGY), Avation PLC (LSE:AVAP), Darktrace PLC (LSE:DARK), dotDigital Group PLC, Galliford Try Holdings PLC (LSE:GFRD)
Finals: Admiral Group Plc (LSE:ADM), Cairn Homes plc (LSE:CRN), Coats Group PLC (LSE:COA), Elementis plc (LSE:ELM), Empiric Student Property PLC, Entain PLC (LSE:ENT), Franchise Brands PLC (AIM:FRAN), Hunting PLC (LSE:HTG), Hutchmed Limited, ITV PLC (LSE:ITV), London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE:LSEG), Meggitt, Melrose Industries PLC (LSE:MRO, OTC:MLSPF), Mondi PLC (LSE:MNDI), PageGroup PLC (LSE:PAGE), Parity Group, Rentokil Initial PLC (LSE:RTO), Schroders PLC (LSE:SDR), Spire Healthcare Group Plc (LSE:SPI), Synthomer (LSE:SYNT) PLC, Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.), Vesuvius Plc (LSE:VSVS)
AGMs: Chemring Group (LSE:CHG) PLC, Jersey Electricity PLC, Petro Matad Ltd, Zytronic (AIM:ZYT)
Economic Data: Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), PMI Composite (US), PMI Services (US), Factory Orders (US), ISM Prices Paid (US), ISM Services (US), PMI Services (UK)
Friday 4 March
Finals: Essentra PLC (LSE:ESNT), FBD Holdings (LSE:FBH) PLC, Hammerson (LSE:HMSO) PLC, Morgan Advanced Materials plc (LSE:MGAM)
AGMs: JPMorgan Russian Securities PLC
Economic Data: Non-Farm Payrolls (US), Unemployment Rate (US), PMI Construction (UK)