Friday preview: JD Wetherspoon, HMV

8th Sep 2011 17:37

A wide selection of ales, cheap nosh and a relentless expansion programme has served pubs operator JD Wetherspoon well over the years, though the company has not been immune to the effects of the downturn in consumer spending. Panmure Gordon suggests, meanwhile, that "current trading is likely to be fairly lacklustre given the impact of the riots in early August."The market is expecting Friday's full-year results to reveal sales burst through the billion pounds barrier to £1,069m, from £996m last year. Profit before tax is tipped to rise to £66.5m, which is up about 10% on last year's reported figure. The company recently resumed dividend payments and analysts have pencilled in a full-year dividend of 12.01p."Management has identified a raft of cost increases for fiscal 2011/12, including a £4m increase in electricity costs, £2.5m carbon tax, a 2.5% increase in the national minimum wage and 3-4% increases in food and beverage input costs; the only area of benign cost inflation appears to be rents," Panmure Gordon notes. Friday will also see entertainment media retailer HMV give a trading update, which will have the stock's army of short-sellers paying attention. The company is in a race against time to refashion its bricks and mortar business before internet rivals put it out of business, and those shareholders who have stayed loyal will be anxious to hear how the company's move into live entertainment and portable digital products is progressing. INTERIMSPlanet Payment Inc.INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAcencia Debt Strategies Ltd., Anglogold Ashanti Ltd., Avon Rubber, CSR, F&C Inv Trust, LSL Property Services, Nichols, PorvairQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBarclays, Lilly (Eli) & CoINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)Wholesales Inventories (US) (15:00)GMSTiger Resource FinanceFINALSJD WetherspoonIMSSHMV Group, SThreeSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEProsperity Minerals Holdings Ltd.EGMSBank of Ireland (Governor & Company of the), JPMorgan Private Equity Ltd USD Equity Shares, JPMorgan Private Equity Ltd. ZDP Shares, JPMorgan Private Equity Ltd. ZDP Shares 2015AGMSAfrican Minerals Ltd., Foresight 3 VCT, HMV Group, IPSO Ventures, Latchways, Mortice Ltd. (DI)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAshtead Group, Cyril Sweett Group, Northumbrian Water Group, Prosperity Minerals Holdings Ltd., Solid State--jh