Agenda: Joules, Gear4music and the latest grocery data

Grocery market share

Kantar Worldpanel and Nielsen both unveil their latest grocery market share figures on Tuesday July 25.

According to Nielsen data, the grocers enjoyed their steepest rise in sales for four years during the four weeks ending June 17 as they capitalised on last month’s heatwave.

It marked the first time since July 2013 that all of Britain’s biggest 10 grocery retailers recorded year-on-year growth, Nielsen said, as overall revenues climbed 4%.

Rival data from Kantar Worldpanel suggested supermarket sales accelerated 5% in the 12 weeks to June 18.

Joules

The lifestyle retailer reports its full-year results on Wednesday, July 26. Joules is expected to report another impressive set of figures, continuing to beat the market as it has done in recent years.

In a pre-close update last month, Joules reported a spike in sales in its first full year since its IPO and ramped up its profit guidance.

Joules said group revenues jumped 19.6% to £157m during the 52 weeks to May 28, and added pre-tax profit for the year would come in “comfortably ahead” of previous expectations.

Joules said retail sales increased approximately 19.4% year on year, driven by “strong” growth in its ecommerce business and helped by the opening of 11 new stores during the year.

It now expects to report gross margin gains thanks to a higher proportion of full-price sales and distribution efficiencies.

Gear4music

The musical instrument and equipment etailer will release a trading update on Friday, July 28, ahead of its AGM.

The etailer unveiled bumper profit and sales growth in its second full year since its 2015 float on AIM, describing the period as “transformational”. Investors will be expecting more of the same at this update as it continues to grow customer numbers.