Wednesday preview: Sainsbury, Marston's, Greggs

5th Oct 2010 16:12

With the half-year trading statement from sector leader Tesco out of the way the path is clear for fellow supermarket group Sainsbury to grab the headlines on Wednesday.Back in June, at the height of the World Cup, Sainsbury was doing a roaring trade in vuvuzelas, whch helped it achieve a like for like sales increase (excluding petrol) of 1.1% in the 12 weeks to 12 June. Evolution Securities thinks that growth rate might have improved to around 2.0% in the retailer's second quarter. However, rather than organic growth it will be additional floor space that will remain Sainsbury's main driver of growth, the broker reckons. Sainsbury, the number three player in the UK supermarket arena, is said to be contemplating opening up a new front in its long-term battle against Tesco by branching out in to China. Newspaper reports suggest the company has sent a team of executives to China to ascertain whether the idea is a goer. British retailers have not had the best of experiences with overseas expansion but China is the fastest growing grocery market in the world, and is probably too big to ignore.Brewer and pubs owner Marston's issues a pre-close statement that should, in the view of KBC Peel Hunt, contain no surprises. "We expect Wednesday's pre-close to confirm that the independent twin drivers of managed newbuilds and the tenanted Retail Agreement, are taking Marston's towards double-digit profit growth in fiscal 2011m" Peel Hunt said. Like for like (LFL) sales "may have shaded down from the +2.7% for the 11 weeks to 31 July after a colder and wetter September than in 2009, although we would not anticipate much change on the year against the 43-week level of +1.7%," the broker added.The company is pinning a lot of its hopes on new pubs, rather than going down the route of refurbishing existing pubs, having angered many in the City last year by raising funds through a rights issue to finance the new build programme. Happily for the company the new pubs are generating better returns on investment than the 25% targeted by the company. Some brokers maintain that the company's generous dividend cannot be sustained but Peel Hunt says it has confidence in the share's 6.2% yield. While the wet and miserable weather Britain is currently enduring is not great news for Marston's, it is by no means a disaster for hot pies and sausage rolls seller Greggs.The Newcastle based baker might have a few grumbles about rising wheat prices, however, in its interim management statement, but it should be able to boast of a modest year on year improvement in like for like sales in its third quarter. FinnCap notes that the snack food seller has partial cover on wheat and other ingredients for the latter part of the year and expects raw material prices will subside in response to fundamentals, but the broker is expecting the company to experience an increase in ingredient costs.INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEChurchill China, Rathbone BrothersINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAdmiral Group, AG Barr, Atlantic Global, Balfour Beatty, Bodycote, Brammer, Capital & Counties Properties , Capital Shopping Centres Group, Cello Group, Cenkos Securities, Charles Taylor, Dealogic, Dillistone, Fairpoint Group, Fisher (James) & Sons, GVC Holdings, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2, Healthcare Locums, Henry Boot, Hydrogen Group, Judges Scientific, Keller Group, Kingfisher, Martin Currie Portfolio Trust, Motivcom, Nationwide Accident Repair Services, Northbridge Industrial Services, Octopus Apollo VCT 1, Octopus Apollo VCT 2, Octopus Apollo VCT 3, Octopus Eclipse VCT 2, Pinewood-Shepperton, S & U, StatPro Group, The Hotel Corporation, Total Produce, Weir GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Merchants Trust, Schroder Income Growth FundINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)GDP (2nd release) (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Q4SportingbetGMSFinders Resources, Medusa Mining, Vane MineralsFINALSSportingbetANNUAL REPORTTR European Growth TrustIMSSGreggs, Robert WaltersSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAdmiral Group, TR European Growth TrustEGMSFinders ResourcesAGMSEdinburgh New Income Trust, Edinburgh New Income Trust ZDP SharesTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSMarston's, Sainsbury (J)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBRC Shop Price Index (00:01)New Car Registrations (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEPennon Group, PZ CussonsFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBegbies Traynor Group, Close Brothers Group, Filtronic, Galliford Try, Pacific Horizon Inv Trust, TR European Growth Trust