Morrison, Burberry, IG Group and Carphone Warehouse are among those reporting next week.
Over the last few weeks, we have had oodles of festive trading updates from leading high street names. But just when you thought there couldn't be any more, another truckload of shopkeepers appear over the horizon. So brace yourself for more tales of Christmas trading.
Premium Christmas
Burberry (LSE: BRBY), which will report on Tuesday, has warned that wholesale revenue may be lower in the second half. This stemmed from weakness in Spain and shutting down some speciality accounts in Europe. That said, Burberry's retailing division could benefit from a deliberate shift by Christmas shoppers to luxury goods. Both Tesco (LSE: TSCO) and Waitrose reported an increase in Yuletide sales, which market analyst Taylor Nelson Sofres has dubbed a "premium Christmas".
At the other end of the price spectrum, ASOS (LSE: ASC) may post strong figures too. In the seven weeks to 15 November, sales grew 46% year on year. In the UK, sales were up 23% and international sales rose 161%. Games Workshop (LSE: GAW) is pencilled in for interim results on Tuesday. Shares in the fantasy war games specialist surged 30% last week following a cheery trading update. It said full-year profits would be materially ahead of expectations.
Supermarket Sweep
According to Citigroup, William Morrison (LSE: MRW) could report like-for-like sales growth of 7% on Thursday. That would put it ahead of Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY), the Co-op and Tesco, but well behind Waitrose, which currently leads Christmas sales with a 13.6% growth over the three months to 26 December. Morrison has yet to announce a successor to chief executive Marc Bolland, who will take over at Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS).
With the giving of mobile phones almost synonymous with Christmas, Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) is expected to ring in good festive numbers on Tuesday. In November, it said half-year results were well ahead of expectations. The demerger of the company into telecom services and handset retailing is expected to be completed by the end of March.
Financial spread better IG Group (LSE: IGG) will post interim results on Tuesday. Revenues could be 13% higher and profits a third better at £77m. The company was badly affected by the events of October 2008 when the stock market lost a quarter of its value. That said, value investor Stephen Bland has bagged a 68% gain from the rebound of the company's shares since May 2009.
Bricks and Mortar
Positive trading statements from Persimmon (LSE: PSN), Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) and Bovis Homes (LSE: BVS) this year have given house builders a welcome boost. Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW), which will provide a trading update on Monday, has been steadily increasing the rate of building on its sites. The average selling price of its homes is expected to be higher too, as the company shifts its mix from apartments towards housing.
Sticking with property, shares in Land Securities (LSE: LAND) have improved steadily on hopes of an upturn in demand for prime commercial property. A recent report by property consultants King Sturge forecast that prime office rents in London could rise 10% in the City of London and almost 8% in the West End. However, Nomura warned that the City "super tax" could potentially lead to tenants subletting London office space.
Notable results and updates
Monday: ASOS and Taylor Wimpey
Tuesday: Burberry, Carphone Warehouse, Chemring, Games Workshop, IG Group Land Securities, SABMiller and Uniq
Wednesday: BHP Billiton, JD Wetherspoon, Kesa and William Hill
Thursday: Begbies Traynor, easyJet, London Stock Exchange, Wm. Morrison and United Utilities
Friday: St. James's Place and Invensys
David owns shares in Land Securities and William Hill.
