It’s hard to look beyond the bloody battle now underway in Ukraine and statements tomorrow will likely be dominated by how much the companies reporting are being affected.
Darktrace releases first-half results and it is likely to have plenty to say about the Russian invasion and the threat of an escalation in cyber attacks as a result.
Shares in the cyber group are already starting to recover following an upgrade to its full-year guidance in January after a disappointing performance over the past six months.
How the slump in the value of Russian companies is affecting the London Stock Exchange will be an interesting question for tomorrow. Whether it gets answered is another matter.
Ahead of the Russian invasion, the focus was all on the cost of integrating data business Refinitiv and its recurring revenues, which will also be something to keep an eye on.
Engineer Melrose’s GKN (LSE:GKN) business supplies parts to many western military plane, drone and missile makers and in theory should benefit from any increase in defence spending, such as recently announced by the German government.
The group recently said there were signs its aerospace arm was improving anyway as civil flights pick up again 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.
Elsewhere, UK-focused housebuilder Taylor Wimpey 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.
The results 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.
Bookie Entain announces its full-year results having already divulged some of its key performance indicators.
“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.
The BetMGM joint venture will also be a key segment to watch, CEO Jette Nygaard-Anderson recently called it out as ‘a particular highlight’.
Thursday 3 March: Major announcements due
Interims: Allergy Therapeutics PLC, Avation PLC, Darktrace PLC, dotDigital Group PLC, Galliford Try Holdings PLC
Finals: Admiral Group Plc, Cairn Homes plc, Coats Group PLC, Elementis plc, Empiric Student Property PLC, Entain PLC, Franchise Brands PLC, Hunting PLC, Hutchmed Limited, ITV PLC, , Meggitt, Melrose Industries PLC, PageGroup PLC, Parity Group, Rentokil Initial PLC , Schroders PLC, Spire Healthcare Group Plc, Synthomer PLC, Taylor Wimpey PLC ,Vesuvius Plc (LSE:VSVS)
AGMs: Chemring Group PLC, Jersey Electricity PLC, Petro Matad Ltd, Zytronic
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)