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Week Ahead: Familiar story at Marks & Spencer

Published: 16:01 06 Jul 2014 AEST

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House builders and retailers battle it for the spotlight this week.

House builders Taylor Wimpey, Bovis, Galliford Try and Barratt Developments are all reporting, while from the High Street come updates from Marks & Spencer, Dunelm, Burberry, Primark owner Associated British Foods, Halfords, SuperGroup and pubs group JD Wetherspoon.

With Marks & Sparks (M&S), the story is likely to be a familiar one of good performance on the food side and a bewilderment on the General Merchandise (GM) side as to what sort of clothes shoppers want to buy in M&S these days.

Like-for-like (LFL) sales on the GM side are likely to be negative in comparison with the year before, with sales suppressed by a re-jig of M&S’s online offering in February.

LFL growth in food is tipped to come in at around 2%.

The situation at bikes and car parts seller Halfords is likely to be a whole lot brighter, as the company’s turnaround plan begins to bear fruit.

“We expect the strong momentum from the end of FY14 to continue into 1Q with cycling the main driving force, ahead of a ‘summer of cycling’,” reckons Investec.

“FY15 should be another good year of sales growth for Halfords. It has begun the second year of its recovery strategy and there is still much to be done on store refurbishments, range improvements, service and efficiency programmes,” the broker added.

Investec is predicting for LFL sales growth of 7%.

Significant announcements expected

Monday 

Companies: Finals: Action Hotels (LON:AHCG), Solid State (LON:SSP). Interims: RM (LON:RM.). Trading Statement: Robert Walters (LON:RWA), Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.).

Economic: EU: German Industrial Production, Sentix Investor Confidence.

Tuesday

Companies: Trading Statement: Bovis Homes Group (LON:BVS), Dunelm Group (LON:DNLM), Marks & Spencer Group (LON:MKS), SIG (LON:SHI), XP Power (LON:XPP).

Economic: UK: Manufacturing Production, Industrial Production, NIESR GDP Estimate. EU: German Trade Balance, French Gov Budget Balance, French Trade Balance. US: NFIB Small Business Index, JOLTS Job Openings, Consumer Credit.

Wednesday

Companies: Trading Statement: Alliance Pharma (LON:APHA), Galliford Try (LON:GFRD), Interserve (LON:IRV), Wetherspoon (J D) (LON:JDW). Interims: Booker Group (LON:BOK).

The following widely-held stocks are trading ex-dividend on Wednesday: Next, Vedanta, Coca-Cola HBC, WS Atkins

Economic: UK: BRC Shop Price Index. US: 30-y Bond Auction, FOMC Meeting Minutes.

Thursday

Companies: Finals: SuperGroup (LON:SGP). Interims: Low & Bonar (LON:LWB). Trading Statement: Associated British Foods (LON:ABF), Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY), Burberry Group (LON:BRBY), Grafton Group (LON:GFTU), Hays (LON:HAS), Halfords Group (LON:HFD), Premier Oil (LON:PMO).

Economic: UK: RICS House Price Balance, Trade Balance, Asset Purchase Facility, Official Bank Rate. EU: French Industrial Production, French CPI, ECB Monthly Bulletin, Italian Industrial Production. US: Unemployment Claims, Wholesale Inventories.

Friday

Companies: Trading Statement: Experian (LON:EXPN), Moneysupermarket.com Group (LON:MONY).

Economic: UK: CB Leading Index. EU: German Final CPI. US: Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment, Prelim UoM Inflation Expectations, Federal Budget Balance.

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