Thursday will come with Burberry Group PLC‘s interim results, the first update since the announcement that the Versace boss Jonathan Akeroyd will be stepping into Marco Gobbetti’s shoes next year as chief executive.
Analysts at UBS expect to see any comment on the rationale behind the decision in the results, alongside current trading updates as the FTSE 100 luxury designer is “at an important stage of its turnaround story”.
“Sales trends by nationality, especially for the Americans and the Chinese, will drive investor sentiment,” the Swiss bank said.
“The market is not pricing in a success of Burberry’s turnaround story with a LSD sales growth and a below 20% terminal underlying earnings (EBIT) margin, thus reflecting the potential risks to expectations when the new CEO joins the company.”
Europe has also been a weak spot for the company, with store sales well below 2019 levels, but the hope is that the reopening of the travel industry will lure back tourists with deep pockets.
Consensus expects second-quarter like-for-like retail sales to rise 9%, with half-year group EBIT margin of 14.9%.
WH Smith waiting on travel to get going
Similarly, WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is also waiting for travel really to get going again to spark a recovery.
Full-year results will reflect another disappointing summer for the airlines and rail sectors, with the newsagent’s, which owns station and airport-based outlets across Europe and the US, already reporting second half sales were down 35% versus two years ago.
Broker Citi expects a loss of GBP61mln but said of greater interest will be the comments about North American travel going forward, average transaction values (ATV) and the impact of rising input costs on the other half of the business on the UK hight street.
Thursday 11 November
Trading Updates: Endeavour Mining PLC, Taylor Wimpey PLC, Vesuvius Plc
Interims: 3i Group plc, Assura PLC, Auto Trader Group PLC, B&M European Value Retail SA, Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY), Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited, Manolete Partners PLC, Mediclinic International Plc, Norcros PLC, QinetiQ Group PLC, Syncona Limited, Ted Baker PLC, Volex PLC, Young & Co.’s Brewery PLC
Finals: WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH)
AGMs: Fonix Mobile PLC
Economic Data: RICS Housing Market Survey (UK), Preliminary GDP (UK), GDP (UK), Index of Services (UK), Manufacturing Production (UK), Balance of Trade (UK), Industrial Production (UK), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Continuing Claims (US), CPI (US)
