Week ahead in business and economics: April 7-11

Corporate week ahead

MONDAY April 7

• Recruitment group Robert Walters is the most “acutely geared to market recovery” of its peers according to Investec analysts, who upgraded their price target when the group posted its annual results in March. Robert Walters, boss of the eponymous business, was even more confident, saying this recovery was like “no other he had seen” with “growth across the board”. Expect this bellwether business to reflect the slight slowdown in the speed of the UK’s bounce back, a nation which represents a third of its total fees.

Full-year results Waterlogic

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update Cranswick, Robert Walters, Synety Group

Economics Spain and Germany industrial production figures for February

Meetings None scheduled

TUESDAY April 8

Full-year results InternetQ

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update UK Mail Group, Victrex

Economics UK manufacturing output and industrial production figures for February

Meetings F&C US Smaller Companies (EGM), Porvair (AGM), Synety Group (EGM), Telecity Group (AGM)

WEDNESDAY April 9

• The market is expecting a continued strong performance from the WS Atkins, which is winning plenty of infrastructure contracts on rail and highways. Consensus estimates are for full-year results to March 31 to provide revenue of £1.76bn, pre-tax profit of £105m, giving earnings per share of 83.6p.

Full-year results Evraz

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update Atkins (WS), Volex Group

Economics Federal Reserve minutes for March 19 released, Bank of England monetary policy committee meeting, UK global trade and trade in goods and services for February

Meetings Admiral Group (AGM), Athelney Trust (AGM), Dexion Trading (EGM), JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust (AGM), Law Debenture Corp (AGM), Perform Group (AGM)

THURSDAY April 10

• Questions about Marks & Spencer’s strategy are likely to intensify this week when the retailer reports another fall in clothing sales. M&S is due to update on trading for the three months to the end of March on Thursday and the consensus among analysts is that like-for-like clothing sales will be down 1pc while food will rise 0.1pc.

Annual pre-tax profits are predicted be around £615m this year, compared to £665m on an underlying basis last year. This would be the 11th quarter in a row that clothing sales have fallen, despite M&S throwing millions of pounds at revamping its clothing range. M&S is making progress outside the UK, with plans for 250 new stores overseas in the next three years, but it remains under pressure in its home market.

Goldman Sachs analysts moved M&S to a “conviction sell” and said that M&S’s food business will not be immune to the price war among the leading supermarkets and will need to cut prices. The analysts also warned that M&S stores on secondary high streets across the UK will be badly affected by the rise of internet shopping.

• Air Partner has been pursuing a strategy to offset a structural decline in business from governments by growing market share in the US and increasing its client base among independent tour companies. Gerald Khoo, analyst at Liberum, is forecasting annual pre-tax profit, adjusted for the year to January, of £4.3m compared to £3.3m for 2013.

• Hays has been investing in its computer systems to boost productivity and is likely to continue to reap the benefits in a trading update this week. In its half-year results in February it posted a forecast-beating 10pc jump in pre-tax profits and chief executive Alistair Cox is confident about the sector, having previously said he’s starting to see pockets of wage inflation in some sectors, a hint of good things to come for the recruitment business.

• Mothercare is still rocking from a tumultuous start to 2014. After issuing a profits warning in January, Mothercare than axed its chief executive Simon Calver. The chairman of Mothercare, Alan Parker, has since hired Mark Newton-Jones as interim chief executive and investors will be hoping to find out this week whether that appointment could be made permanent, as well as hearing an update on the company’s strategy.

• WHSmith has a habit of reporting a fall in sales alongside a rise in profits, but an increase in pension costs could prevent that in interim results this week. Analysts at Investec have forecast that pre-tax profits for the first half will fall from £69m to £68m, although there will still be a 2.2pc rise in profits before pension costs. Kate Calvert, analyst, said the company’s high street stores should show signs of improvement. “We expect management to say more on WHSmith newsagent franchising and potentially on Funkypigeon, which could be a hidden gem if the Photobox — owners of Moonpig — valuation being talked about in the press is anything to go by”, she said.

Full-year results Air Partner, Evraz, Vedanta

Interim results WH Smith

Trading update 888 Holdings, Ashmore Group, Hays, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare

Economics Bank of England monetary policy committee decision announced

Meetings BP (AGM), H&T Group (AGM), Smith & Nephew (AGM)

FRIDAY April 11

Full-year results None scheduled

Interim results International Biotechnology

Trading update Jupiter Fund Management, XP Power

Economics UK construction output for February, IMF/ World Bank Spring meeting

Meetings Amara Mining (EGM)

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