Thursday preview: Mothercare, Experian

14th Jul 2010 17:58

Mothercare, owner of the eponymous retail chain and also the Early Learning Centre brand, is another retailer holding its annual general meeting (AGM) this week, following hot on the heels of J. Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer.Unlike at the Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer AGMs, there is little expectation of shareholders grumbling over executive pay which means focus will be the trading update for the company's first quarter of the new financial year. Broker KBC Peel Hunt thinks like for like sales (LFL) picture will have deteriorated in the first quarter, as the company is going up against tough comparative figures from a year ago, when the April to June quarter included Easter."We expect LFL sales to have worsened from the 1.6% decline reported in Q4. Indeed, stripping out the effect of Direct sales, we expect a mid-single-digit fall in LFL sales for Q1. While we expect a broadly flat gross margin this year, there is a risk that H1 [first half] sees more significant markdown levels too," the broker said. UBS predicts total sales growth of 3%, with UK LFL sales expected to be down 2% from a year earlier. International retail sales are tipped to have grown by 20%.Global information services company Experian, best known for its credit checking facilities, issues an interim management statement on Thursday. The company's chairman, John Peace, said in May that the company had seen "signs of gradual recovery in some of our key markets and we expect a modest contribution from our strategic growth initiatives over the course of the year."Revenue in the UK & Ireland has gone ex-growth recently but Latin America has been going great guns, and it is little wonder that the company is keen to deepen its presence in emerging markets such as Brazil, India, China , South Africa and Eastern Europe.INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEuromoney Institutional InvestorINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCapacity Utilisation (US) (16:15)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)ECB Report (EU) (09:00)Harmonised Competitiveness Indicators (EU) (09:00)Industrial Production (US) (16:15)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)New Car Registrations (EU) (10:00)Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00)Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)Empire State Manufacturing Survey (US) (13:30)Bank of Japan Target Rate (JPN)Machine Tool Orders (JPN)FINALSSupergroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBank of England Housing Equity Withdrawal (09:30)ANNUAL REPORTDS Smith, DSG InternationalIMSSElectrocomponents, Experian GroupEGMSET-ChinaAGMSBrulines, Burberry Group, Conexion Media Group, Electrocomponents, Finsbury Worldwide Pharmaceutical Trust, Hamworthy, JPMorgan European Inv Trust Growth Shares, JPMorgan European Inv Trust Income Shares, Mothercare, MW TOPS Ltd. EUR Shares, MW TOPS Ltd. GBP Shares, MW TOPS Ltd. USD Shares, Nature Group, Oxford Technology 2 VCT, Oxford Technology 3 VCT, Oxford Technology 4 VCT, Oxford Technology VCT, SVM UK Active Fund, Telford HomesTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSMothercare, Premier OilFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAlliance Pharma, JPMorgan European Fledgling Inv Trust, UTV Media, Young & Co's Brewery 'A'