Monday 5 July
– Services industry PMIs from Asia, Europe and the UK
-Hipgnosis Song final results
Tuesday 6 July
-Full-year results from Purplebricks and Mercia Asset Management
-Sainsbury’s Q1 trading statement
“J Sainsbury rose to the challenge of helping feed the nation during lockdowns, but the costs of operating through the crisis seriously dented its bottom line,” notes Hargreaves Lansdown senior investment and markets analyst Susannah Streeter.
Though retail sales, excluding fuel, rose by 7.3% last year, the supermarket took a 39% hit to profits after incurring £485m worth of extra Covid-related costs. However chief executive Simon Roberts is expecting pre-tax profit for the current year to bounce back to £620m.
Streeter says high customer approval ratings for its in-store experience and a surge in online sales, which doubled last year to £12.1bn, bode well for the company.
However, she adds the “nation’s drift back to dining out might eat into its revenues”. “ONS figures showed that there was a 5.7% fall in retail food sales in May, and as shoppers fill up fewer baskets, there is likely to be further competition on price, which could affect margins going forward.”
-Ocado interim results
Despite the pandemic driving demand for online groceries, Ocado’s share price has been flat over the past year, AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould notes.
He thinks investors may be put off by the fact that the firm is not expected to turn a profit until 2024 at the earliest or that it faces steeper competition from established supermarket rivals and newcomers like Weezy and Beelivery that are offering one-hour grocery delivery.
Attention will turn to retail sales growth, including from retail partners who use Ocado’s platform for their online deliveries like Morrison’s, run rates and basket size, and profit “or the lack of it,” Mould adds.
-Financial Conduct Authority assessment of value reports
At 10am the City watchdog publishes a multi-firm review on assessment of value (AoV) reports.
For the past two years fund groups have been required to show how their products stack up in areas such as performance and cost compared to competitors.
However, some firms have been accused of veering from the spirit of the rules and effectively marking their own homework. CFA UK found a significant proportion of fund boards’ reports were not up to scratch and failed to provide key information on charges, risk, liquidity and ESG factors.
-Japanese wage growth figures
-Interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia
-UK PMI for the construction industry
-German ZEW economic confidence indicator
-US PMI for services industries
Wednesday 7 July
-Ferrexo Q2 production volume
-Trading update from housebuilder Vistry
Thursday 8 July
-Full-year results from Watches of Switzerland and Jet2
-Trading statements from Persimmon, B&M European Value Retail, Grafton and Entain
HL Select Funds manager Steve Clayton says for now Persimmon appears to be in a secure position. “The housing market is marching higher and so far, price growth looks set to comfortably outpace cost inflation.”
“It could get harder from here though – stamp duty cuts will finally wash out and there are signs of product shortages impacting the industry,” he adds.
-Halifax UK house price index
-US NFIB smaller companies business confidence survey
-US weekly unemployment claims
-US weekly oil inventories data
-Quarterly results from denim designer Levi Strauss
Friday 9 July
-Full-year results from MJ Gleeson
-Trading statement from bid target Senior
-Chinese inflation data
-UK GDP figures
-UK monthly construction, manufacturing and industrial production figures
