Wednesday preview: GSK and Sainsbury's top the bill amid earnings influx
While investors will continue to look ahead to the elections, Wednesday's session is set to be a busy one for UK markets amid a barrage of blue-chip corporate earnings and economic data.
Food & Drug Retailers
3,682.87
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
GSK
1,583.50p
16:40 18/04/24
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
21,132.77
17:14 18/04/24
Sainsbury (J)
262.60p
16:40 18/04/24
Glaxosmithkline, Sainsbury's, Sage, Intu Properties, CRH, Direct Line, Legal & General and Boohoo.com are all expected to update the market with results and trading updates when the regulatory news services goes live at 07:00.
GSK's first-quarter results in particular will be watched closely by investors following comments last week from Goldman Sachs and Berenberg Bank who both said that the drugmaker may throw out a plan to return £4bn to shareholders amid an overhaul and a new chairman.
Analysts believe GSK could instead use cash flowing from its asset swap deal with Novartis to support its dividend. Last year GSK said it planned to return £4bn to investors in 2015 through its B share scheme after its transaction with Novartis, worth more than $20bn, which completed during the first quarter.
Meanwhile, supermarket giant Sainsbury's will report its results for the year ended March 2015 and is forecast to report a pre-tax profit of £617.49 on revenues of £23.89bn, down from £898m and £23.95bn the year before respectively. The consensus forecast is for the dividend to be slashed to 12.54p per share, from 17.30p previously.
Nevertheless, analysts at Barclays Capital said the company's outlook alongside its results may be "less noteworthy" than normal given its unveiled its realigned strategy as recently as November. "It is too early to expect any significant changes in direction and likely too early to properly judge whether the plan is really working," the bank said.
As for economic data, service-sector surveys will be released in China, the UK and Eurozone on Wednesday, along with Eurozone retail sales and the closely-followed ADP employment report in the States.
While the latter is only seen as a very rough guide to official US non-farm payrolls data, it still has the potential to move markets as investors predict the outcome of the government data due on Friday. Analysts predict the ADP figures will show a 200,000 increase in private payrolls in April after a 189,000 gain in March.
If that wasn't enough, speeches from a number of prominent Federal Reserve officials, including chair Janet Yellen, will be watched for any hints on the timing of the first interest-rate hike.
Wednesday 6 May
INTERIMS
Sage Group
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
British Land Company
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
PMI Composite (EU) (09:00)
PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)
PMI Services (EU) (09:00)
PMI Services (GER) (08:55)
Productivity (US) (13:30)
Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)
FINALS
Boohoo.com, Boohoo.com, Sainsbury (J), Summit Therapeutics
IMSS
Catlin Group Ltd., CRH, Direct Line Insurance Group, Legal & General Group
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
GVC Holdings
AGMS
Amerisur Resources, Bank of America Corp., Cloudtag Inc, Costain Group, Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd. (Singapore), Deltex Medical Group, Gulf Marine Services, Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Bermuda), Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Jersey), Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Sing.Reg), Howden Joinery Group, Inmarsat, Mandarin Oriental International (Singapore), Medaphor Group, Mobeus Income & Growth Vct, National Express Group, Norish Units, Norsk Hydro ASA, Serco Group, Standard Chartered, The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited, Tullett Prebon
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Intu Properties
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRC Shop Price Index (00:01)
Official Reserves (09:30)
PMI Composite (09:30)
PMI Services (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
BlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, First Quantum Minerals Ltd., GVC Holdings, Hellermanntyton Group, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Schroders, Schroders (Non-Voting), Smith & Nephew, Ultra Electronics Holdings
Q1
GlaxoSmithKline, Komercni Banka A.S.GDR (Level 1)