magazine archive
magazine archive
Week Ahead
Supermarket group Tesco on track for record profit and retail cash flow
Thursday 04 Apr 2024This year is looking rosy so far for the UK’s largest supermarket group by market value and market share, Tesco (TSCO) , and investors will be hoping it stays that way when the company reports its full-year earnings on 10 April. The year started with a report of record Christmas sales, up 6.8% in...
Focus on jobs, inflation and European Central Bank decision
Thursday 04 Apr 2024Investors continue to receive conflicting signals about the likely date of the first interest rate cut in the current US cycle. On 29 March, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation – the PCE (personal consumption expenditures) price index – was up 2.8% on a 12-month basis and 0.3%...
Progress on job cuts and direct-to-consumer sales in focus at Levi Strauss
Thursday 28 Mar 2024Iconic denim products maker Levi Strauss (LEVI:NYSE) may be one of the oldest companies in the US, tracing its origins all the way back to 1853, but it remains highly relevant today. It regularly scores near the top in apparel brand rankings in both the US and internationally and the company’s...
Outlook in focus as Hilton Food posts full-year results
Thursday 28 Mar 2024Retail meat- and fish-packing business Hilton Food (HFG) is set to report its full-year results on 3 April. The company gave a pretty clear picture of its 2023 performance in a January trading update so the spotlight is likely to be on the outlook for 2024 and recent trading. Hilton was hit by two...
Investors looking for answers on spin-off plan and cost cuts from Walgreens Boots Alliance
Thursday 21 Mar 2024Retail pharmacy firm Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA:NASDAQ) is set to report its second-quarter earnings as speculation continues to swirl about a return to the London market for its UK chain Boots. Trading as Alliance Boots after a 2006 merger with pan-European wholesale and retail pharmacy outfit...
Attention is likely to focus on what central bankers say not what they do
Thursday 21 Mar 2024It seems wherever you look at the moment, the economic data is coming in hotter than the market expects. Take US producer prices for February, which last week rose by 0.6% on the previous month, or double the consensus forecast, due to a surge in energy prices which in turn drove a larger-than-...
Can fallen mixers star Fevertree recapture its fizz?
Thursday 21 Mar 2024Against a backdrop of rising high-end mixer market competition, a cost-of-living crisis and inflationary pressures, Fevertree Drinks’ (FEVR:AIM) shares have fallen almost 50% over five years. So the premium carbonated mixers supplier needs to stir up renewed confidence in its global growth and...
Central banks expected to toe the line on interest rates this month
Thursday 14 Mar 2024Last week’s ECB (European Central Bank) meeting passed pretty much as predicted with no change in any of its three benchmark interest rates despite mounting evidence of an economic slowdown and falling inflation in continental Europe. The news was well received in the bond market, which doesn’t...
Could a special capital return be on Computacenter's agenda?
Thursday 14 Mar 2024The IT reseller industry has enjoyed a strong bounce back from the world’s Covid reopening as customers line up to put in place digital strategies and adopt the latest technologies, and AI (artificial intelligence) levers are being pulled left, right and centre. International player Computacenter (...
Persimmon expected to post a one-third drop in sales for 2023
Thursday 07 Mar 2024Leading housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) issued an upbeat full-year trading statement in January saying it had ‘performed well in challenging market conditions, delivering completions ahead of expectations alongside enhanced quality metrics of our already five-star homes’. It described sales as being ‘...