Interim results season is hotting up, and I see a number of attractive FTSE 250 shares with updates coming our way. It’s going to be tricky to pick the best ones to buy. But I have my eye on these three.
Faltering recovery
The Greggs (LSE: GRG) share price put in a strong recovery in 2021. But it’s plunged again in 2022, and we’re now looking at a 12-month fall of 25%.
The high-street bakery chain is due to release first-half figures on 2 August. And if Greggs’ May trading update is anything to go by, investors will be hoping for something good.
The company saw 27.4% like-for-like sales growth in the first 19 weeks of the year. It also opened 49 new shops, while closing six. Although Greggs did tell us its full-year expectations were unchanged at the time, it was experiencing cost pressures.
That’s a key thing I’ll be looking for when we get the results. The second half could be all about resisting rising costs and trying to keep margins as healthy as possible.
Pandemic surge
Pets At Home (LSE: PETS) is one of the few stocks that soared when the pandemic hit. Anything at home enjoyed quite an advantage when we were all locked down. And the share price reflects the rise in demand.
The surge continued well into 2021, but it’s gone into sharp reverse in 2022. It always surprises me the way investors push a stock skywards when it benefits from a short-term problem, while knowing for sure that the problem will eventually end.
Still, what happens next will surely depend on how many new Pets At Home customers like the service and will stay with it. And we should get some idea of that when we see how the first quarter has gone, on 5 August.
Forecasts suggest several years of earnings growth. And if that comes off, I think Pets At Home shares could be good value now.
Battered sector
The construction business has been shunned by investors since the economic crunch set in. As a result, the Balfour Beatty (LSE:BBY) share price is down 10% over the past 12 months.
Forecasts put the shares on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 11.5. But there’s a couple of years of earnings growth forecast, which would drop it to single digits if accurate.
The company itself seems to think its shares are worth buying. And it’s been hoovering them up as part of a share buyback programme.
At its AGM trading update in May, trading had been in line with the company’s expectations. And it had built an order book of £15.6bn. H1 results are due on 17 August.
Three to buy?
These three FTSE 250 stocks do face risks, especially if high inflation continues for too much longer. And I’d certainly not buy any of them in response to a single performance update. But on what I can see, all three have their attractions. We’ll have plenty to research in August.
