Weekly Outlook: SSE and Burberry first-half results

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08 November 2024

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Hannah Williford

Monday 11 November

Friday 8 November
Trading statements from Rightmove and Vistry

Tuesday 12 November

First-half results from Vodafone, DCC, 3i Infrastructure, Flutter Entertainment and Oxford Instruments
Quarterly results or trading statements from AstraZeneca
UK unemployment, job vacancies and wage growth
German inflation
German ZEW economic sentiment indicator
US NFIB smaller businesses survey
In Japan, quarterly results from Sharp
In Asia, quarterly results from Sea
In Europe, quarterly results from Infineon, Bayer and United Internet
In the US, quarterly results from Shopify, Occidental Petroleum, Live Nation, Tyson Foods, Grab, Skyworks, Instacart, Mosaic and Ingram Micro

Wednesday 13 November

First-half results from Experian, Intermediate Capital, Babcock and Fuller, Smith & Turner
Trading statements from Smiths Group and Secure Trust Bank
US inflation
US monthly Federal budget balance
In Japan, quarterly results from Rakuten
In Asia, quarterly results from Tencent Holdings, JD.com and Singapore Telecom
In Europe, quarterly results from Siemens Energy, RWE, ABN Amro, Alstom and Telecom Italia
In the US, quarterly results from Nu
SSE first-half results

Utility company SSE will report its first-half results on Wednesday, in a period of public scrutiny for the sector but after avoiding windfall taxes in the Autumn Budget.

SSE generates electricity through a variety of methods, including gas-fired power stations, on and offshore wind farms, and hydroelectric plants. Currently, valuations for the company are near their all-time highs and up over 10% throughout the last year.

Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis, and Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell investment analyst, said: “In terms of earnings, in the year to March 2024, Renewables was the biggest earner, followed by Thermal & Gas Storage.

“Watch out here for any update from chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies with increases seen from Distribution and Renewables, decreases from Transmission and Thermal Gas Storage and a flat outcome from Energy Customer Solutions. Remember the business is sensitive to seasonal weather patterns, power plant performance and swings in energy prices.”

Analysts will be watching earnings per share, which SSE intends to grow by 13% to 16% each year from 2022 to 2027. However earnings per share is expected to see modest growth this year.

SSE is also attempting to grow its dividend by 5% to 10% each year to 2027. For the first half of last year, they paid out 20p per share.

Thursday 14 November

Full-year results from WH Smith
First-half results from 3i, B&M European Value Retail, QinetiQ, Great Portland Estates, FirstGroup, Premier Foods and Assura
Trading statements from Aviva, Spirax Group and Kier
UK GDP growth
EU Q3 GDP growth
UK construction, industrial and manufacturing output
US oil inventories
US weekly unemployment claims
Japan Q3 GDP growth
In Japan, quarterly results from Dentsu
In Asia, quarterly results from Hon Hai Precision, Geeley Automobile and Lenovo
In Europe, quarterly results from Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, Merck, E.On and Hapag-Lloyd
In the US, quarterly results from Walt Disney, Applied Materials and Macy’s
Burberry first-half results

Burberry will release its first-half results following a profit warning in July, when the company stopped dividend payments and chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd exited.

In September, Burberry was dropped from the FTSE 100 following the troubles.

“Demand in China is not recovering as quickly as hoped, the company’s strategy to hike prices is backfiring and leaving it with unsold stock and the discounting needed to shift that inventory only tarnishes Burberry’s credentials as a luxury brand, where lofty pricing is one of the attractions to plutocratic would-be purchasers,” Mould, Hewson, and Coatsworth said.

“Joshua Schulman is the new boss who has the job of cleaning up the mess after his stints at Coach, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors and at least he has low expectations on his side, as he looks to revitalise the value of Burberry’s heritage check design.”

In an attempt of recovering, Schulman has focused on creating a broader product range, refocusing market plans, refreshing the website, and making “operational efficiencies”.

“Analysts and shareholders will look for an update on all of those and any comment on the unconfirmed rumours that Italy’s Moncler is sniffing around with a bid in mind, chatter which is at least helping the shares to recover from the summer’s fourteen-year low,” the AJ Bell team said.