The Motley Fool's Week Ahead: MandS and HMV

A Motley Fool product story
Edited by the Insidemoneytalk editorial team Jun 29, 2009

David Kuo highlights some of the key announcements for next week

Notable results and updates w/c 29 June 09: Monday: Asos and Beale.

Tuesday: Carpetright, Drax, HMV and Petrofac.

Wednesday: Anite and Marks and Spencer.

Thursday: Amec and Greene King.

Friday: Cosalt.

Recession-thumped MandS and downturn-defying ASOS are two of many retailers reporting results.

Marks and Spencer (LSE: MKS) is unlikely to buck the slump in high street sales when it announces first-quarter figures on Monday.

According to the Confederation of British Industry, retail sales extended their slump in June as shoppers kept their wallets firmly in their pockets.

Young and trendy Recession-defying retailer ASOS (LSE: ASC) is set to announce a doubling of sales to ?165m on Monday.

Over the spring season, the online fashion retailer said sales grew 80% thanks to young shoppers who are proving more resilient in the economic downturn.

The company, which is penciled in for a 70% jump in profits, is expected to announce a maiden dividend too.

HMV (LSE: HMV) is expected to maintain its dividend payout when it announces full-year results on Tuesday.

Sales growth at the music and book retailer has been steady if unspectacular.

That said profits are expected to hold firm thanks to improved margins.

Threadbare carpets The slowdown in the housing market has left group sales at Carpetright (LSE: CPR) looking threadbare.

The floor covering specialist warned in April that like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland were down 15% between February and April.

Additionally, gross margins have been hurt by the fall in sterling against the euro.

The upshot is a significant drop in annual profits.

Department store Beale (LSE: BAE) is facing challenging conditions too.

Beale, which will announce first-half numbers on Monday, said like-for-like sales in its first quarter were down 3.2%.

It has also been slashing prices in response to competitive pressures on the high street.

This is expected to hit gross margins.

One for the road Greene King (LSE: GNK) has splashed out some of the ?200m it raised from a recent rights issue to snap up 11 pubs from Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB).

Greene King, which will report annual on Thursday, is expected to post a drop in profits due a decline in beer volumes.

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