Wednesday preview: ASOS, UK trade

8th Jun 2010 17:01

Online clothes retailer ASOS reports on Wednesday where it will be seeking to shake off a growing perception that the days of exceptional sales growth are in the past.Its sales continued to slow in the final weeks of the year to March, though a pick-up in April meant it was more confident over 2010 than previously. "The new year has started very positively, retail sales are up 56% in April (UK +25% and International +148%)," chief executive Nick Robertson said back in April. The company has already announced that sales for the year to March rose by 35% to £223m, while profits will be in line with market forecasts. Market expectations are for pre-tax profit of £20.1m, up from £14.1m the preceding year. Panmure Gordon thinks earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation will be £23.1m and anticipated diluted adjusted earnings per share of 18.1p.Switching to the economy, UK trade figures for April will not make agreeable reading, even though the trade deficit is expected to narrow to around £3bn. As Howard Archer of forecasting group IHS Global Insight has pointed out, a £3bn deficit "would still be above the average monthly deficit of £2.7 billion in 2009.""Within, this, the visible trade deficit is forecast to have shrunk to £7.0 billion in April from £7.5 billion in March. This would again still be above the average monthly deficit of £6.8 billion in 2009," Dr. Archer added. The Nationwide Consumer Confidence index should be out overnight with the market expecting the May reading to ease back to 72 from 74.