After pushing the envelope during the pandemic, on the back of surging demand for online shopping deliveries and hopes of improved efficiency, Royal Mail PLC (LSE:RMG) shares have not delivered in 2022.
Heading in its final results on Thursday investors will be fretting about staff costs, as the group aims to cut 700 management positions but is also facing revolting workers, with unions unhappy about pay amid rocketing cost of living.
There are other key factors to watch, says analyst Laura Hoy at Hargreaves Lansdown, in particular how much inflation of construction costs is having on automation investments, and whether parcel volumes are settling at a higher than pre-pandemic level.
Also on Thursday any investors who have had flights cancelled in recent weeks are likely to be keen to hear from easyJet PLC, which last month provided said first-half losses had been trimmed as capacity was increased back towards pre-pandemic levels, though it continued to be hampered by increasing numbers of crew testing positive for Covid-19.
Losses would be between £535mln and £565mln, it said, and said it had cancelled 6% of its scheduled flights over the previous week due to staff absences.
For the third quarter, capacity was expected to be around 90% of 2019 levels, with sales for the fourth quarter said to be “near” equivalent levels from the year before the pandemic.
Thursday 19 May
Finals: Great Portland Estates (LSE:GPOR) PLC, Investec PLC (LSE:INVP), National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.), QinetiQ Group PLC (LSE:QQ.), Royal Mail PLC (LSE:RMG), Young & Co's Brewery PLC
Interims: Countryside Partnerships PLC (LSE:CSP), easyJet PLC, Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
Trading update: Essentra PLC (LSE:ESNT), Fevertree Drinks PLC, Tyman (LSE:TYMN) PLC, Watches of Switzerland PLC
FTSE 100 ex-dividends to reduce index by 15.47 points: Bunzl PLC (LSE:BNZL), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LSE:GSK), Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF), Pershing Square PLC, Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO), Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR)
Economic announcements: US weekly unemployment claims