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Thursday preview: Halfords, Young and Co., National Grid
Thu, 08 Jan, 2009
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Thursday preview: Halfords, Young and Co., National Grid
Wed, 19 Nov 2008, 17:54:00
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Related Market Prices
Name
Value
Percent
Change
Halfords Group
228.50p
-6.73%
National Grid
685.50p
+2.85%
Young & Co's Brewery 'A'
427.50p
+1.79%
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Car and cycle components seller
Halfords
is expected to announce flat profit before tax of £46m in its interim results Thursday, having previously announced first half sales figures that showed a 0.5% fall in like-for-like sales on a year ago.
The company's sales seem to be holding up better than many of its fellow occupants of the High Street, despite the disastrous slump in new car sales. The car sales figures may even be proving a boon to the company as drivers seek to upgrade their existing vehicles rather than buying new ones.
Car owners who have responded to the sharp increase in petrol prices by getting on their bike may also be keeping sales relatively buoyant.
New chief executive David Wild is expected to outline his views on the future of the company. The former Wal-Mart man is expected to give details of the company's expansion plans for its 450-strong UK store portfolio, as well as its early-stage operations in Central and Eastern Europe.
At the time of the last set of full year results gearing was 82%, which is likely to be considered uncomfortably high in the current environment, so analysts will be looking to see whether the net debt of £182m has come down.
There are also concerns that the weakness of sterling may put pressure on margins, with a large proportion of Halfords' product mix sourced from Asia.
London focused real ale brewer and pub operator
Young & Co
is, like a lot of pub companies, increasingly focusing on food to boost margins.
At the full year stage (back in march), the group saw like-for-like sales growth of 4.7% within the managed estate, though this included figures from houses that had received extensive refurbishment. Even on an uninvested basis, however, the managed estate managed a respectable 1.2% improvement in like-for-like sales. If this sort of improvement is maintained in the interim results the group will be doing well, given the current recessionary fears and the effect they are having on consumer spending.
Broker Charles Stanley is expecting a solid set of interim results from power provider
National Grid
and an update on the share buy-back programme. The broker is predicting an interim dividend "in line with the group's confident target of 8% growth per annum".
INTERIMS
Halfords, National Grid, PayPoint, Protherics, Scapa Group, Young & Co's Brewery 'A'
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Primary Health, Tullett Prebon
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Caterpillar
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30), Leading Indicators (US) (15:00) , Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00), Producer Prices (Germany) (07:00)
FINALS
Daily Mail and General Trust
EGMS
Japan Residential Investment Company, Savile Group
AGMS
Foreign and Colonial US Smaller, Jourdan, Oilex LD
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
M4 Money Supply (estimate) (09:30), M4 Sterling Lending (estimate) (09:30) , Public Sector Finances (09:30) , Retail Sales (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Centaur Media, Thorpe (F.W.)
QUARTERLY RESULTS
New World Resources
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