Week Ahead: AB Foods, Supergroup, Wetherspoon ...

7th Sep 2012 10:04

There is a food theme to the corporate diary at the start of next week, while retailers will also be in fashion. On Friday, the week ends, as all working weeks should, with a visit to the pub.Associated British Foods reports on Monday, and although its Primark stores will garner their usual quota of interest, the Sugar division is likely to be the outstanding performer.Interims from Hilton Food Group on Tuesday will probably reflect the "challenging market conditions and constrained consumer demand" the meat-packing company spoke of in its trading statement back in July.Performance in the Nordic markets is likely to be a bright feature for Hilton.On the same day, Supergroup, the "too much, too soon" stock market story of recent years, takes another step in its attempt to repair relationships with the City.Chief Executive and co-founder of SuperGroup Theo Karpathios abruptly quit his position in the middle of August to 'take on new challenges,' having presumably got fed up dealing with the surfeit of "old challenges" at the trendy clothing firm, which has had more than its share of teething troubles since floating on the stock exchange.To make matters harder for the firm, the trading statement covers the first quarter (Q1) of its financial year, which last year was a bumper period for the fast-growing firm, in which like-for-like (LFL) retail sales growth of 14.4% year-on-year was achieved."We forecast retail sales growth of around 15% and wholesale sales growth of around 5% for Q1 2012/13, which implies group quarterly revenue growth of c.11%," Panmure Gordon said, adding that it thinks the market is slowly regaining trust in the company's management.The broker reckons the shares are worth holding, if you already have them. "We await further evidence that our gut feel (of stronger management in the form of a new FD [finance director] and, especially, a new COO [chief operating officer) is correct before moving to a more positive stance," Panmure Gordon's Jean Roche said.Later in the week, the somewhat more established fashion retailer Next reports on Thursday. Elsewhere in the retail sector do-it-yourself operators Kingfisher and Home Retail are set to report. while on Friday pubs group JD Wetherspoon announces full-year results, which are sure to include a rant against the government's tax policy towards boozers and, perhaps more interestingly, an update on how badly the mediocre summer weather and the competing attraction of the Olympics has affected trade.On the economic front, the big event of the week in the UK is the release of the August unemployment figures on Wednesday. Monday September 10INTERIMSBrady, PowerFilm Inc. (Reg S), Telit CommunicationsINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATELSL Property ServicesQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATECanaccord Financial Inc., IBM Corp., Lilly (Eli) & CoQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATECanadian General Investments Ltd.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (US) (20:00)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)Harmonised Competitiveness Indicators (EU) (09:00)FINALSMurgitroyd GroupAGMSUnitech Corporate ParksTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSAssociated British FoodsFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEGreene KingFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATENews Corp. 'A' SharesTuesday September 11INTERIMSHilton Food GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEFresnilloINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (US) (13:30)GMSColefax GroupFINALSAshmore Group, Interior Services GroupIMSSBetfair Group, IG Group Holdings, SupergroupAGMSAvarae Global Coins, Betfair Group, Cohort, JPMorgan Brazil Inv Trust , Oxford Instruments, ReNeuron Group, Rockhopper ExplorationUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (09:30)Wednesday September 12INTERIMSAlkane Energy, Alliance Pharma, Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (DI), InterQuest Group, Kingfisher, Modern Water, Netplay TV, OJSC Cherkizovo Group GDR (Reg S), Tikit GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEInformaINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE32Red, 888 Holdings, Abbey Protection, Admiral Group, Antofagasta, Avesco Group, Belvoir Lettings, Berendsen, Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, Capita, Chesnara, Clarke (T.), Clarkson, Concurrent Technologies, Cookson Group, Densitron Technologies, Fyffes, H&T Group, International Public Partnerships Ltd., Ladbrokes, Lavendon Group, Lupus Capital, Macfarlane Group, New Europe Property Investments, Pennant International Group, Rathbone Brothers, Rentokil Initial, Restaurant Group, Savills, Stadium Group, Tamar European Industrial Fund Ltd., Temple Bar Inv Trust, Tex Holdings, Treatt, UTV Media, ZotefoamsQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEM Winkworth, UnileverQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlpha Pyrenees Trust Ltd., Land Securities GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Import and Export Price Indexes (US) (13:30)Industrial Production (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Wholesales Inventories (US) (15:00)FINALSBarratt Developments, ThorntonsSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAdmiral Group, Hargreaves LansdownAGMSEnteq Upstream, ITM Power, Liontrust Asset Management, Petro Matad Ltd., Stewart & WightUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSClaimant Count Rate (09:30)Unemployment Rate (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECrestonFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAvarae Global Coins, Cash Converters International Ltd, Catalyst Media Group, Colefax Group, Dart Group, Darty, Goodwin Plc, Hargreaves Lansdown, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Medusa Mining Ltd. (DI), Stewart & Wight, Sweett Group, Vianet GroupThursday September 13INTERIMSElektron Technology, NextINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAnglo American, Glencore International, Impellam Group, Law Debenture Corp., Rio Tinto, Spirent Communications, XstrataINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)ECB Report (EU) (09:00)FOMC Interest Rate (US) (17:15)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)Treasury Budget Statement (US) (19:00)Q2Premier FarnellFINALSBrooks Macdonald Group, Centaur Media, Dunelm Group, Kier Group, Sinclair Is PharmaAGMSAccsys Technologies, Anite, Artemis Alpha Trust, Darty, Photo-Me International, The Real Good Food CompanyTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSHome Retail GroupFriday September 14INTERIMSM. P. Evans Group, Verona PharmaINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE4Imprint Group, Delcam, Japan Residential Investment Co Ltd., Moneysupermarket.com Group, Pearson, RM, Witan Inv TrustQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEAnglogold Ashanti Ltd., Carnival, Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBusiness Inventories (US) (13:30)Capacity Utilisation (US) (16:15)Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00)Industrial Production (US) (16:15)Manufacturing Inventories (US) (15:00)Retail Sales (US) (13:45)Retail Sales Inventories (US) (15:15)U. of Michigan Confidence (Prelim) (US) (15:00)Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)FINALSWetherspoon (J.D.)ANNUAL REPORTMwana AfricaAGMSAvengardco Investments Public Ltd GDR, Eastern European Property Fund Ltd., First Property Group, Imaginatik, Imagination Technologies Group, Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings, Jupiter Green Inv Trust, Mwana Africa, Plant ImpactTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSWetherspoon (J.D.)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEJPMorgan Brazil Inv Trust , Latchways, New Century AIM VCTJH