The week ahead in business and finance

The week ahead in business and finance

Economic and corporate news expected from Monday, September 14 to Friday,
September 18.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14

Applegreen (LSE: APGN.L – news) will publish its maiden half-year results today, after
floating on London’s junior market in June. The petrol forecourt retailer is
expected to post net income of around €4.8m , as analysts highlighted gross
profit is normally skewed towards the second half of the year. Simon
Matthews, of Goodbody, said “we expect a strong half-year performance with
sales of €580m, driven by continued rapid forecourt expansion and a
significant recovery in consumer spending in Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD – news) .” In the first six
months of the year, the group opened a further 22 new sites in its Irish, UK
and US markets, and the group said its pace of opening is set to accelerate.
The biggest squeeze on profits is likely to come from the increase in oil
price in the first half of the year, although analysts reckon this trend
will be reversed in the second half of 2015 to reflect the fall in oil
prices over the summer months.

Full-year results

Abcam

Interim results

Central Asia Metals (Stuttgart: 9C3.SG – news) , Escher Group, Applegreen (Frankfurt: 28410092.F – news)

Economics

Industrial Production (EU)

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15

B&Q owner Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L – news) will be in the spotlight on Tuesday when its new French
chief executive updates investors on her overhaul of the DIY company.

In March Veronique Laury set out a plan to turnaround the business by closing
up to 60 B&Q stores and slashing thousands of products sold across the
company by unifying the group’s global supply-chain. Analysts have suggested
Ms Laury’s plan could mean the end of the B&Q brand name.

Kingfisher is forecast to post a 1pc rise in adjusted pre-tax profits to £380m
and a 0.9pc slip in UK sales while French profits at the group’s Castorama
and Brico Dépôt business are expected to have been impacted by the weaker
economy.

Ms Laury, who has been rebuilding Kingfisher’s board since a slew of
departures in the wake of her promotion to the top job, is expected to
announce she has filled the last remaining position of her leadership team
with a chief people officer.

Full-year results

Wilmington Group, Gateley Holdings

Interim results

Kingfisher, Accesso Technology Group, Synety Group (LSE: SNTY.L – news)

Trading update

Ocado

Economics

Producer Price Index (UK), Balance of Trade (EU), Industrial Production (US)

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 16

It (Other OTC: ITGL – news) has always been jam tomorrow for investors in Avanti, the satellite
broadband operator, as the company has made some optimistic predictions it
hasn’t been able to meet.

There have been signs recently that the company’s big, expensive, long-term
bet that there will be big demand for broadband via space from Africa and
other areas that may never get fibre-optic networks on the ground could
eventually pay off. Virgin Group and Qualcomm’s recently unveiled OneWeb
initiative is aiming to achieve much the same as Avanti, for instance.

When the company reports full year results, patient shareholders will
nevertheless be looking for some signs of progress. Avanti gave cause for
hope in June with a trading update that indicated it at least expected to
meet forecasts this time. Profit at pre-tax level remains at least two years
away, according to analysts.

Full-year results

Galliford Try (LSE: GFRD.L – news) , Avanti Communications (LSE: AVN.L – news)

Interim results

Epwin Group (LSE: EPWN.L – news) , JD Sports Fashion (LSE: JD.L – news)

Trading update

Imagination Technologies (Other OTC: IGNMF – news)

AGMs

Hornby (LSE: HRN.L – news) , Entertainment One (Other OTC: ENTMF – news)

Economics

Unemployment Rate (UK), Consumer Price Index (EU), Crude Oil Inventories (US)

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17

Merlin Entertainments (LSE: MERL.L – news) , the leisure giant that owns Thorpe Park and
Chessington World of Adventures, will report trading figures for the year so
far on Thursday. Analysts are forecasting flat sales, with just 0.5pc growth
expected as a result of weak trading in its resort theme parks during the
crucial summer months. Alton Towers, one of its biggest theme parks,
suffered from negative publicity following the high-profile Smiler
rollercoaster crash in June, where sixteen people were injured. A month
after the incident, Merlin Entertainments said the accident could affect
profits by up to £47m. The group’s share price has fallen by 14pc to around
385p since the profit warning was announced. Merlin has said visitor numbers
to Alton Towers may not recover until 2017. However, its Legoland Park has
benefited from a boost in visitor numbers and analysts forecast
like-for-like sales growth of 5.8pc.

Full-year results

Kier Group (LSE: KIE.L – news) , Just Retirement (LSE: JRG.L – news)

Interim results

French Connection (LSE: FCCN.L – news) , Premier Farnell (LSE: PFL.L – news)

Trading update

Merlin Entertainment, Northgate

AGMs

Poundland, Auto Trader (Other OTC: ATDRY – news)

Economics

Retail Sales (UK), ECB Report (EU), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Philadelphia
Fed Index (US), FOMC Interest Rate (US)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18

Investors will be waiting with bated breath on Friday to see if Petra
Diamonds ’ full-year results fall short of its targets. After a torrid
year, a recent trading update which prompted broker downgrades, and a move
by De Beers to slash diamond prices by 10pc last month in an effort to spur
demand, Petra Diamonds (LSE: PDL.L – news) will be forced to address their thoughts on the
health of the diamond market. Rough diamond prices have fallen about 14pc so
far this year. However, Marc Elliott, of Investec (LSE: INVP.L – news) , said “Petra remains a
growth story and, despite continued challenges, has made considerable
progress in turning around the long established mines, but we need to see
delivery against guidance to turn positive on the story”. Just three months
ago, the South African diamond miner issued a warning that revenue would
fall short of expectations as higher volumes of smaller diamonds and lower
incidence of high quality stones weighed heavily on prices.

Full-year results

Petra Diamonds

Economics

Balance of Payments (EU), Current Account (EU), Leading Indicators (US)

The week ahead in business and finance