Holidays, shopping and eating will loom large for most traders this week, with British Airways, Marks & Spencer, catering giant Compass and leisure group Six Continents all due to update the City.
British Airways posts final figures on Monday after one of the toughest years yet for the airline.
September 11 led to thousands of job losses as passengers stayed at home and capacity and costs were cut.
The Future Size and Shape overhaul is now under way, which will see BA focus on cheaper routes as well as its core long-haul offering.
The decline in passenger numbers has been improving over recent months but the figures are still expected to be poor. Pre-tax losses are forecast to come in at £412m before disposals, compared with pre-tax profits of £219m in the previous year, according to fund manager Gerrard.
Investors will be hoping for a feast of an update on Tuesday when catering giant Compass posts interim figures.
Analysts are expecting pre-tax profits to increase from £231m to £255m on a host of big ticket contracts, including catering for the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Compass’ latest win is a 10-year contract to feed workers employed by aircraft manufacturer Boeing in the US, in a deal that is expected to boost annual revenues by £28m.
On Tuesday, music group EMI will emerge from a tough few months to update the City with its full-year figures.
The home of the Beatles and Robbie Williams saw CD sales slump last year as the tough global climate hit home, and fund manager Gerrard is expecting pre-tax profits before one-off costs to fall from £258m to £149m.
EMI is restructuring the recorded music division, including cutting jobs and slashing the number of artists. Alain Levy has been hired to oversee the overhaul and the City will be looking for an update from the former Polygram president.
The City will be hoping for more good news from retailer Marks & Spencer when it posts full-year figures on Tuesday.
The group, recovering from years of falling profits, has already cheered investors with sales growth over recent months and final pre-tax profits are expected to soar from £480.9m to £649.7m.
Luc Vandevelde, the architect of the turnaround, is likely to relinquish the chief executive role this year in favour of continuing as chairman, but analysts are not expecting an update on the timing of the split this time round.
On Wednesday, MyTravel – formerly Airtours – is expected to show interim pre-tax losses have widened from £86m to £100m.
The operator is still feeling the pinch of 11 September, as people delayed holidays and cancelled flights following the attacks.
But signs are pointing towards an improvement in conditions and anecdotal evidence across the sector suggests bookings for summer 2002 – MyTravel’s busiest period – are beginning to pick up.
Along with airlines, leisure groups were some of the hardest hit following the 11 September attacks and former Bass business Six Continents was no exception.
In the last 18 months Six Continents has overhauled itself by selling brewing interests to Belgian giant Interbrew and snapping up 79 Posthouse hotels to focus on its hotel arm, home of the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands.
But the move has made it vulnerable to the vagaries of the tourist market and analysts are expecting interim pre-tax profits to slide from £336m to £215m when Six Continents updates the City on Thursday.
EGi News 20/05/02
