UK Edition
The week ahead in business and finance
Monday
An understated start to the corporate calendar this week begins with housebuilder and urban regeneration specialist MJ Gleeson’s full-year figures.
The rest of the housebuilding sector has brushed aside the political and economic uncertainty thrown up by the snap election, and enjoyed strong growth supported by the low interest rate environment and the Help to Buy scheme. MJ Gleeson indicated in its latest update to the market in July that it would be no different, with Jolyon Harrison, its chief executive, saying that it had started the new financial year in its strongest ever position.
Tuesday
Card Factory’s strategy of opening new stores as high-street footfall continues to decline will be the focal point for investors in the retailer’s interim results tomorrow. Like-for-like sales growth accelerated in the second quarter but EBITDA will be held back by margin headwinds, Peel Hunt told clients.
The broker added that the retailer’s performance should begin to pick up as its range and store format improve, and rival Clintons continues to shut down sites.
Clintons is expected to step up its plan to close down struggling stores in early 2018, when a batch of leases come up for renewal. Card Factory, which has seen its share price recover over 37pc this year, is poised to take advantage of its peer’s woes.
Wednesday
Rising star of Aim boohoo.com is expected to maintain the strong momentum that in just a few years has turned it from a market minnow to a soaring e-tailor feared by online clothing giant Asos.
The company will attempt to keep market expectations in check, however, according to Peel Hunt analyst John Stevenson, with tougher comparables to come when the recent acquisitions of Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal stop distorting year-on-year figures.
Although the fast-fashion firm still lags behind Aim peer Asos in terms of market capitalisation, its rival cannot compete in terms of growth with revenue in the latest figures expected to surge to £256m, a 101pc increase.
Thursday
After reporting last month that it recorded a profitable first nine months of the financial year for the first time ever, tour operator TUI will be looking to continue its robust performance in its results on Thursday as it prepares to rebrand its UK business.
The firm has shifted its strategy to combine its hotel, cruise and tour operating businesses, a move to make the company’s earnings less seasonal. TUI revealed in August that it made €7.3m (£6.5m) in the nine months to June 30, an impressive reversal from the €45.5m loss it made over the same period in 2016. The improving turnaround arrives just before the dual-listed group rolls out its rebrand in the UK, assigning the Thomson name to the dustbin.
Investors will be keen to see whether the firm has continued to experience resilient demand over the summer, despite the pound’s depreciation encouraging holidaymakers to opt for “staycations” or shell out less on their trips abroad. Barclaycard data indicates a strong end to the summer for the sector, and there was evidence of a “continued underlying recovery in spending with UK travel agents”, Barclays analyst Patrick Coffey said.
Friday
Online estate agent Purplebricks’s quest to shake up the UK housing market has captured an impressive online market share but the focus of Friday’s trading update will be on the Aim-quoted firm’s move to Hollywood in a bid to become a star stateside.
The company plans to break the Los Angeles market before spreading out through the $12bn (£8.9bn) California market and then taking its model to other states. Purplebricks’s losses are narrowing, halving in its first full-year results since listing on Aim. Revenue soared by 150pc last year, a rare rising star in a sector on the decline with bricks-and-mortar rivals Foxtons and Countrywide dogged by a stuttering property market. Investec analyst Steve Liechti forecast US start-up losses of £17m-£18m in its first two financial years but expects the new business stateside to be breaking even by the second half of 2020.
Purplebricks hopes to lure sellers in the US by offering a flat fee of $3,200 through its “next generation” service. Its UK arm is expected to continue dominating the online market.