Agenda: Sainsbury's, Next and N Brown update the market

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Retail Week looks ahead to the next six days with updates on the agenda from Sainsbury’s, Next and N Brown.

Kantar/Nielsen

The latest Kantar/Nielsen grocery figures are released on Tuesday.

Last month’s report showed more households are shopping at the likes of Aldi and Morrisons, with Asda knocking Sainsbury’s off the top spot.

Asda’s sales rose 0.1% in the 12 weeks to March 24, achieving a market share of 15.4%, marginally ahead of Sainsbury’s share of 15.3%.

Aldi’s sales climbed by 10.6% in the period when the retailer again notched up a record market share of 8%.

Apple

Apple posts its second-quarter results on Tuesday

Apple reduced its first-quarter sales forecast over the crucial Christmas trading period as boss Tim Cook said the business did not anticipate China’s “economic deceleration”.

The electricals giant also blamed its quarterly sales decline on fewer customers upgrading their iPhones than anticipated.

Apple said in a letter to investors that its forecast revenue in the quarter to December 29 would be $84bn (£67bn), down from previous expectations of $89bn (£71bn), representing a 5% decline in sales year-on-year.

This was the first time the business has downgraded its guidance in over 15 years.

GFK Consumer Confidence Index

The GFK Consumer Confidence Index is released on Tuesday.

Despite ongoing political uncertainty, consumer confidence in March was unchanged compared to February.

However, there was a slight uptick in consumers’ personal finance situation scoring to 2, up one point from the previous month.

The measure for the general economic situation over the past 12 months held steady month on month at -33, but was seven points lower than March 2018.

GfK client strategy director Joe Staton said: “Things might change when people feel the current crisis has passed, but what sort of resolution can consumers reasonably contemplate just now? Or are consumers rightly sensing a bumpier economic climate for post-Brexit Britain?”

Next posts it first-quarter results on Wednesday.

The fashion retailer posted a 0.4% decline in pre-tax profits year on year to £722.9m in the year ending January 2019, with total group sales up 2.5% to £4.2bn and full-price sales up 3.1%.

The retailer’s in-store sales declined 7.9% to £1.9bn, with full-price store sales down 7.3% and like-for-like store sales down 8.5%.

Online sales increased 14.7% during the period to £1.9bn, with full-price online sales up 14.8%.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s posts its full-year results on Wednesday.

After its proposed merger with Asda was shut down by the CMA on Thursday, Sainsbury’s full-year results will be slightly overshadowed by that news.

The grocer’s statutory pre-tax profits dropped 40% to £132m in the 28 weeks to September 22, as it booked £170m of exceptional items – including £69m in retail restructuring costs and £17m relating to the now-failed merger with the big-four rival.

Sainsbury’s cautioned that “the consumer outlook is uncertain” as it headed into the crucial Christmas trading period, but insisted it remained “on track” to deliver underlying pre-tax profit of £634m for the full year.

Zalando

Zalando posts its first-quarter results on Thursday.

The fashion retailer issued two profit warnings last year, blaming the “long and hot summer” reducing demand in the fashion market and delaying the start of autumn/winter Sales.

Adjusted EBIT was anticipated to be between €150m and €190m, down from the previous guidance at the “low end” of a €220m to €270m range.

Adjusted EBIT was even lower than expected at €119.2m for the 12 months to December 31, down 36.5% compared to the same period the previous year.