Agenda: B&M, Card Factory and consumer confidence data

B&M

The fast-growing value operator reveals its full-year results on Wednesday.

B&M has been one of the retail success stories of the past few years, continuing to grow its store estate and profitability despite a turbulent high street environment.

At its half-year results last November, pre-tax profit jumped 17.8% to £86.8m, driven by a 7.5% spike in like-for-like sales.

The City will want that momentum to feed through into full-year results, particularly after what B&M labelled an “outstanding” golden quarter.

Grocery market share

Data specialists Kantar and Nielsen provide their latest sales snapshot on Wednesday.

Asda, which is the subject of a proposed merger with Sainsbury’s, was the best-performing member of the big four during April, growing sales 2.3%.

However, grocery revenues as a whole were hit by unpredictable weather throughout the month, increasing at the slowest rate for over a year.

Analysts will expect an uplift this time round after May’s bank holiday heatwave.

Card Factory

The greetings card specialist holds its AGM on Thursday, ahead of which it is expected to file a trading update.

Card Factory warned in April that any EBITDA growth in its 2018/19 fiscal year was “likely to be limited” as it faces into increasing wage and sourcing costs.

Pre-tax profits slipped 12% to £72.6m in the year to January 31, despite a 2.9% uplift in like-for-likes.

A more positive update on Thursday could move to quell any potential investor jitters.

Consumer confidence

GfK lifts the lid on its latest shopper barometer on Thursday.

There are signs that consumer confidence is starting to recover after being battered by the Brexit vote, uncertainty over the UK’s political and economic landscape and sluggish wage growth.

The index has not measured consumer confidence in positive territory since January 2016 – five months prior to the Brexit vote – although it did reach a 10-month high of -7 in March.

After April brought a 28th consecutive month in negative territory, the GfK’s Joe Staton warned: “As consumers, we need to see clear evidence with our own eyes – in our bank balances and pay packets – that balmier economic climes have returned.”