A new year means a new earnings season is upon us again. While most of the FTSE 100 big hitters aren’t releasing their figures until February, some companies are already giving us a taste of how 2022 ended.
For UK investors, retail is the key sector this month – we’ve already seen trading figures from Next (NXT), B&M (BME) and Greggs (GRG). The first two both beat expectations and raised their full-year earnings, while Greggs’ like-for-like sales rose 17.8%.
Some names updating the market on Christmas trading next week include J Sainsbury (SBRY), Tesco (TSCO) and Marks & Spencer (MKS). While this usually a period of higher sales, the cost-of-living crisis has already driven people towards cheaper alternatives – after all, Aldi has already reported a 26% increase in its December sales. Moreover, experts are forecasting that mid-range supermarkets have been forced to keep prices lower to remain competitive – and this is likely to have held profits back.
To cover these reports and beyond, we have listed some of the companies publishing their earnings in January.
If you’re interested in some of the key dates to add to your personal financial calendar, we’ve got a list for that too prepared.
Company reports help provide insights into the financial health of a business. Crucially, they can impact on the stock price, and our analysts use the reports to evaluate the fair value of a company. For example, Tesla (TSLA) released its car delivery numbers this week and we subsequently cut our fair value estimate for the electric vehicle giant.
Outside of the UK, we can in the coming week expect to hear from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (2330) in Asia, and from a range of US banks, like JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), BlackRock (BLK), Citigroup (C), Bank of New York Mellon (BK). US banks usually kick off earnings season, which lasts for a number of weeks.
Away from companies, data on the UK economy can also be expected. The British Retail Consortium is releasing its retail sales figures at the start of the week, while on the Friday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is providing insight into both GDP and the manufacturing, construction and industrial output data.
