Agenda: Asos, Next, Kingfisher and Ocado update the market

Asos

The fashion pureplay will update the market with a trading update on Tuesday ahead of its interims in April. 

Asos issued a shock profit warning in December after boss Nick Beighton admitted he had been “astonished at the level of promotions and discounting” during November.

The etailer cut full-year sales growth guidance from 20-25% to 15%. It said it expected retail gross margin to be down around 150bps compared to flat previously, with an EBIT margin of around 2% rather than 4%. Shareholders will hope to see it meet that downgraded guidance.

Ocado

The online grocer also posts its first-quarter results on Tuesday.

Ocado suffered a fall in full-year profits in February but said its growth story “is only just beginning”.

It posted an annual pre-tax loss of £44.4m, compared to a restated loss of £9.8m the previous year. Group revenue climbed 12% to £1.48bn as the number of active customers advanced 11.8% to 721,000.

ScS

The furniture specialist reveals its interims on Tuesday.

ScS hailed its “increased resilience” to “challenging” trading conditions after posting an increase in full-year profitability in the 52 weeks to July 28, 2018.

EBITDA climbed 8.1% to £18.8m and operating profit rose 10.5% to £13.2m on gross sales of £352.3m, which were broadly flat year on year.

Analysts will want see signs of ongoing momentum, particularly after rival DFS delivered increasing half-year profits when it updated the market last week.

Kingfisher

The B&Q and Screwfix owner files its full-year results on Wednesday.

Kingfisher’s pre-tax profit dropped 30.1% to £281m in the six months to July 31, as boss Véronique Laury comes under increasing pressure to deliver on her five-year One Kingfisher strategy.

The plan is aimed at unifying product ranges and IT systems across its European markets, which also include France, Poland and Russia.

Brexit vote

MPs will have a meaningful vote on Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal for the third time at some point before Wednesday.

If the prime minister’s deal is agreed, she is expected to ask for a short extension to the UK’s March 29 deadline to leave the EU. Any extension would need to be agreed by all member states.

However, if May’s deal is not voted through, she is likely to request a much longer extension to the leaving date.

Britain could also still depart the EU on March 29 without a deal if none of those options can be agreed.

Game

The video game retailer posts its interim results on Thursday.

Game’s UK sales fell over the Christmas period with its Spanish business outperforming its British arm.

UK sales fell 4.1% in the seven weeks to January 5, dipping 0.3% on a like-for-like level. It performed better in the wider period with like-for-likes up 1.1% in the 23 weeks to January 5 and down 1.5% overall.

In Spain, the business fared much better with festive sales up 4.9% and like for likes up 4.8%.

At a group level, like for likes were up 2% and sales down 0.5% in the seven weeks and like for likes up 1% and sales down 0.6% in the 23 weeks.

Next

The fashion giant unveils its preliminary results on Thursday.

Next posted a 1.5% rise in full-price sales in the quarter to December 29, 2018, driven by a 15.2% rise in online sales to £17m. In-store sales declined 9.2% to £16m during the period.

Despite this sales uplift, Next edged down its full-year profit forecast 0.6% to £723m.

Ted Baker

The fashion brand and retailer posts details of its full-year performance on Thursday.

Ted Baker has cautioned that profits will come in below previous market expectations after being “adversely affected” by non-cash factors. As a result, pre-tax profit for the year ending January 26 is now expected to be in the region of £63m.

The figures will represent the first full-year update since founder Ray Kelvin resigned following allegations of misconduct.

ONS sales data

The latest retail sales figures from the Office for National Statistics will be released on Thursday.

Total retail sales increased in both value and volume in January. The 4.5% jump in sales values during the four weeks to January 26 marked the highest year-on-year growth since December 2016.

Retailers will be hoping to see signs of ongoing trading momentum.

Paperchase CVA decision

Paperchase will find out its fate on Friday when a decision will be made on the CVA proposal launched earlier this month after bringing in advisers from KPMG in January.

Under the retailer’s CVA proposal, up to 28 of its 145 stores would have rents slashed by 50% for a three-month window, after which stores will either be shut or continue to operate for a rent-free period.

The bulk of the retailer’s stores will continue to trade with more than half receiving rent reductions under the proposal.