The week ahead: A big day for M&S
18th May 2018 16:43
by Lee Wild from interactive investor
It's been a real struggler for years, but shareholders will be watching Marks & Spencer for any sign that the latest turnaround plan is working.
Monday 21 May
Trading Statements
BGEO Group, McKay Securities, SigaRoc
AGM/EGM
TBC Bank, Restore, BP
Tuesday 22 May
Trading Statements
Renew Holdings, Shaftesbury, Topps Tiles, UDG Healthcare, Oxford Biodynamics, Homeserve, NEX Group, Intermediate Capital, Bloomsbury Publishing, Warehouse Reit, Pets At Home, Halfords, Big Yellow, 1Spatial, Cranswick, Close Brothers
AGM/EGM
Royal Dutch Shell, Jsc Kazmunaigas Exploration, Gocompare.com, Riverstone Energy, Accesso Technology, Sherborne Investors, Gulf Marine Services, Getbusy, Clearstar, Avesoro Resources, Attraqt Group, Epwin Group
Wednesday 23 May
A succession of names have tried and failed to turn around 's flagging clothes division. Currently, it’s the turn of ex-Halfords boss Jill McDonald. While Food has prospered, Marks has struggled to rebuild a fashion business able to compete in a very competitive market place.
Investors are unconvinced, allowing the shares to halve in value over the past three years, most recently after new chairman Archie Norman implied in November that the current turnaround was happening too slowly.
Lack of visibility and confidence in future earnings and cashflows is a major reason for the share price underperformance, reckon analysts at Barclays. They also fear these full-year results may reveal higher capital expenditure, cash exceptional charges and further price cuts.
"However, we tend to think that the share price has already discounted some quite negative scenarios and we consider it unlikely that the company will paint such a negative picture that the company will not be able to comfortably afford to maintain the dividend (6.5% yield)," they say, which partly explains the 'overweight' rating and 370p price target.
Away from the outlook, pre-tax profit is tipped to come in a bit lighter than consensus at £563 million. Clothing & Home like-for-like sales likely fell 3% in the fourth quarter, but rose 0.5% at the Food business, both divisions benefiting from the early Easter.
Source: interactive investor       Past performance is not a guide to future performance
Trading Statements
Easyhotel, Stride Gaming, IXICO, Britvic, Vedanta Resources, Assura Group, Severn Trent, Marks & Spencer, Great Portland Estates, Dairy Crest, HICL Infrastructure, Babcock International
AGM/EGM
Lamprell, Nahl Group, LCG-Longbow, MTI Wireless Edge, Medica Group, Allied Minds, Xeros Technology, Bovis Homes, Smart Metering Systems, Optibiotix Health, Boku Inc, Restaurant Group, Gamma Communications, Cabot Energy
Thursday 24 May
Trading statements
Daily Mail & General Trust, Shoe Zone, Paragon Banking, TalkTalk Telecom, Wizz Air, United Utilities, Caledonia Investments, Tate & Lyle, Electrocomponents, PayPoint, NewRiver Retail, Renewi, Mediclinic International, Helical Bar, Kingfisher, Intertek, Inchcape, Go-Ahead Group
AGM/EGM
Spire Healthcare Group, Tissue Regenix Group, Sportech, Instem, Headlam Group, Huntsworth, Gail India, EnQuest, DP Eurasia, Inchcape, Ibstock, Manx Financial Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Strix Group, Jersey Oil And Gas
Friday 25 May
Trading statements
Pennon, SSE, Volvere, Spectris
AGM/EGM
Air China, Keywords Studios, Etalon Group
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