There are a lot of candidates for the least sexy FTSE 350 company award but Close Brothers PLC, the financial services firm, must be in the running.
Friday will see the company issue a fiscal third-quarter trading update with broker Peel Hunt expecting banking loan growth to be one of the areas of concern.
The first half of the year saw banking loan growth rise by just 1.9% year-on-year, with the performance held back by property book repayments.
The broker is going for full-year growth of 4.2% so Close Brothers has some catching up to do.
Also of concern is the collapse in profits of Winterflood, its broking arm, due to less favourable market conditions.
In macro news, UK retail sales are also due, having followed a strong start to the year but having slumped sharply amid rising prices and a slump in consumer confidence.
March saw a slide of 1.4% driven by a sharp fall in fuel sales as the rising cost of living prompted consumers to pare back non-essential spending and drive their cars less, with downward revisions also to February’s numbers, from -0.3% to -0.5%.
“In cutting back on their spending, consumers will also have had one eye on the upcoming surge in energy bills, as well as other price rises, which were due to hit their wallets in April,” said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
“The most recent BRC retail sales numbers showed that like for like sales fell 1.7% in April, so higher prices are certainly having an effect.”
Significant announcements expected
Finals: Wincanton PLC (AIM:WIN) (Wincanton PLC (AIM:WIN))
Trading update: Close Brothers PLC
Economic announcements: GfK UK consumer confidence survey, UK retail sales