Lower-level stocks including wine seller Majestic will take the spotlight this week as results from FTSE 100 companies are expected to be thin on the ground.
Wine warehouse chain Majestic is expected to continue its impressive record of recent years on Monday as broker Bell Lawrie White is forecasting pre-tax profits of £10.5m, against £8.3m previously.
Watford-based Majestic is well placed to benefit from UK consumers’ more sophisticated knowledge of wine and tendency to spend more per bottle.
The average UK spend on a bottle of wine is £3.80, compared with £5.31 at Majestic.
The group, which has 113 UK outlets, currently accounts for between 3% to 4% of the off-licence market and is believed to be in a position to increase its share substantially.
IT company Civica, whose software is used by traffic wardens to issue parking tickets, floated on the stock market in February and will post maiden interim results on Tuesday.
The group, which also makes number plate recognition software for use in speed enforcement and bus lanes, said in a recent pre-close statement that trading had been ahead of its current budget.
Year-on-year comparisons are difficult as Civica has not published interim results before but broker Altium Securities expects sales of around £40.6m and underlying earnings of £4.1m.
Investors will be looking for confirmation of additional contract wins, particularly in the area of managed services.
Washroom services-to-office pot plants group PHS said in April that trading was in line with management expectations, with profits at its water cooler division set to be “substantially” ahead.
As a result, Investec Securities is forecasting pre-tax profits of £43m – compared with £42m last time – when the company posts annual results on Tuesday.
The performance of the Caerphilly-based group is likely to have been helped by strong showings from mats operation Treadsmart and its washroom services business.
Investec said Treadsmart had benefited from a further move towards speciality mats, which now accounted for 60% of new sales.
Specialist printer Wyndeham Press delivered a profits warning in November but should show significant progress in restructuring the business when it reports final results on Wednesday.
It recently cheered investors by announcing that new contract wins had boosted market share and helped drive full-year profits to the top end of hopes.
The group has benefited from additional work in the magazine sector, including five titles for Reed Business Information and IPC Media’s flagship title Ideal Home.
Stockbroker Numis expects pre-tax profits before goodwill to come in at £4.3m compared with £6.4m last time.
This is expected to lift to £7.4m in the new financial year.
IT firm Radstone Technology is likely to post a 12% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to £7m when it updates the market on Monday.
A strong performance at its core computing division – after completion of a major contract – should offset a decline in electronic manufacturing services (EMS), said stockbroker Numis.
The Towcester-based company, which supplies computer products to the aerospace and defence industry, may see the EMS arm return to profits growth in 2005 after a strategic review and restructuring programme.
Engineering group AEA Technology – formerly the commercial arm of the Atomic Energy Authority – is poised to turn annual underlying losses of £12.7m last year into profits of £10.3m when it updates investors on Thursday.
Broker Cazenove said the group’s exit from Harwell, its last major UK nuclear facility, further reduced risk at the nuclear arm.
AEA has undergone significant restructuring including the withdrawal from its nuclear businesses.
Cazenove said a shortfall in rail and battery systems had been broadly offset by factors including the reduction in losses at the nuclear division.
References: EGi News 14/06/04
