LONDON (SHARECAST) - Thursday is the big day for results next week with retail giants Sports Direct, Halfords, Kingfisher and Mothercare all set to update the market.
Accountancy software behemoth Sage is first out to bat on Monday, however, with an interim management state (IMS) which will be followed on Tuesday with a Capital Market Day for investors.
Panmure Gordon reckons the "fly in the ointment" for the Monday update is likely to be the grim state of affairs in Europe.
"Within the IMS expected message of 'trading in line' any European commentary can only reflect the operational reality – this remains a tough geography," Panmure Gordon said, explaining its decision to reduce its current ear earnings forecast from 19.9p to 19.3p a share.
"Shares are range-bound, and given the recent strength, watch for some profit taking next week," suggests Panmure.
Also out on Monday are the interim results from information technology recruitment specialist SThree, and Peel Hunt thinks a buoyant market in Germany is likely to have been offsetting weakness elsewhere. "However, the outlook remains bleak and we still expect global macro economic uncertainty to weigh on candidate and employer confidence," said the broker, which is bearish on all recruiters.
Peel Hunt predicts interim profit before tax of £13.6m.
On Thursday do-it-yourself retailer Kingfisher is expected by broker Jefferies to give a solid second quarter update, despite the lousy weather recently.
"A c.1% LFL [like-for-like] gain in both France and the UK should be taken well," the broker suggests. "We model for a broadly unchanged gross margin (reflecting range reviews and seasonal promotions in the UK, but sourcing progress in France) and strong cost control to allow for a broadly unchanged Q2 EBIT [second quarter earnings before interest and tax]," Jefferies says.
On Friday, mobile phone networks giant Vodafone gives a first quarter (Q1) update. Nomura reckons the group will deliver year-on-year organic growth of 0.7%, down from 2.3% in the preceding quarter.
"In Europe, we expect growth of -1.7% (Q4 -0.2%, Q3 -1.7%) while in AMAP [Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific], we forecast 6.0% vs 7.6% in Q4.," Nomura says.
On Wednesday, the minutes from the July meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will be published, where the major point of interest will be the vote on the decision to beef up the bank's asset purchase programme.
Monday July 16
INTERIMS
SThree
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
AI Claims Solutions
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Trade (EU) (10:00)
Business Inventories (US) (13:30)
Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00)
Manufacturing Inventories (US) (15:00)
Retail Sales (US) (13:45)
Retail Sales Inventories (US) (15:15)
Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)
Q2
Norwegian Property ASA
FINALS
SnackTime
IMSS
Sage Group
EGMS
EnQuest
AGMS
DQ Entertainment, Papua Mining
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Empresaria Group, UTV Media
Tuesday July 17
INTERIMS
Amino Technologies, Computacenter
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Capacity Utilisation (US) (16:15)
Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)
Industrial Production (US) (16:15)
New Car Registrations (EU) (10:00)
ZEW Survey (EU) (10:00)
ZEW Survey (GER) (10:00)
GMS
North Midland Construction
FINALS
IG Group Holdings, Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Ltd
IMSS
BTG
AGMS
BTG, Dairy Crest Group, ETF Securities ETFX S-Net ITG Global Agri Business Fund USD, Investec Structured Products Calculus VCT, Sepura, Worldwide Healthcare Trust
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Price Index (09:30)
Retail Price Index (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Amati Vct 2
Wednesday July 18
INTERIMS
Access Intelligence, Sagentia Group
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) 'A' Shares, WH Smith
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Crystal Amber Fund Ltd., Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, Imperial Tobacco Group, Sanderson Group
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Caterpillar Inc.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)
Building Permits (US) (13:30)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
Housing Starts (US) (13:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
FINALS
Ebiquity, Greenko Group, Zetar
IMSS
Fuller Smith & Turner, Land Securities Group, Optos
DRILLING REPORT
Fresnillo
SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Walker Crips Group
AGMS
B.P. Marsh & Partners, Booker Group, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, European Convergence Development Co, Experian, Global Lock Safety (International) Global Lock Co Ltd. (DI), IBIS Media VCT 1, RedHot Media International Ltd (DI)., RPC Group, Securities Trust of Scotland, Severn Trent, Speedy Hire, Summit Corporation, Telecom Plus, VP
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Albany Inv Trust, Hasgrove, Tangent Communications
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Amati VCT , Castings, Fidelity China Special Situations , Halma, Lombard Risk Management, Majestic Wine, Mountview Estate, MS International, Telecom Plus
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Payments (EU) (09:00)
Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
Leading Indicators (US) (15:00)
Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00)
GMS
Straight
FINALS
Sports Direct International
IMSS
Britvic, Halfords Group, Imperial Tobacco Group
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Capital Gearing Trust
AGMS
Acal, API Group, Energy Technique, Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (DI), JJB Sports, KCOM Group, Land Securities Group, Mckay Securities, Mothercare, Shanks Group, Shires Income
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kingfisher, Mothercare
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Internet Retail Sales (09:30)
Retail Sales (09:30)
Trends in Lending (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
British Polythene Industries, Capital Gearing Trust, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2, Octopus VCT , Restaurant Group, Tongaat-Hulett Ltd.
Friday July 20
INTERIMS
Beazley
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
RWS Holdings
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Personal Assets Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)
GMS
Red Leopard Holdings
IMSS
Cable & Wireless Communications, Vodafone Group
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
NetDimensions Holding Ltd. (DI)
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Thursday is the big day for results next week with retail giants Sports Direct, Halfords, Kingfisher and Mothercare all set to update the market.
