Wednesday preview: Tesco reports half year results

1st Oct 2013 15:59

Tesco will take centre stage on Wednesday when the UK's largest supermarket chain unveils its half-year results. The retailer's recovery plans will be under the microscope as Chief Executive Philip Clarke leads a £1bn overhaul.The rewards of the turnaround plan remain to be seen following less impressive August figures and battles to gain market share.Kantar Worldpanel last week published industry data which showed the FTSE 100 company's market share fell to 30.2% in the 12 weeks to September 15th from 30.9% a year earlier.The grocer has been hurt by rival discount stores such as Aldi and Lidl.At the same time of the release, Tesco launched its own tablet computer in an effort to boost sales.Tesco said it had designed the seven-inch device, which will run on Google's Android operating system, from scratch and is designed to appeal to those who found new technology intimidating or too expensive. Retailing for £119, or under £100 with Tesco Clubcard discounts, the device has been designed to help customers instantly access the supermarket's full range of digital services, such as online grocery ordering, Blinkbox movies and TV, music and its Clubcard TV service - all via a big Tesco launch button on the home screen.Jefferies International predicts group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to fall 1% which "should represent a reduced profit attrition following the pressures of the past 18 months". "Flat UK retail margins should be a key sign that the core of the group cashflow has now stabilised," the analyst said in a note last week. "We expect international to suffer from sales leverage particularly in Europe (-10% EBIT year-on-year), but we model pressures to reduce from here onwards.""This resilience, and our belief that there is a good chance of a major rethink on future investment policy, prompts an upgrade of our target to 385p. Still a 'hold'."Wednesday October 2ndINTERIMSTescoINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATENovae GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAdvanced Medical Solutions Group, Amati Vct 2, Ashley (Laura) Holding, Barr (A.G.), Bodycote, Braime (T.F.& J.H.) Holdings, BrainJuicer Group, Brammer, Crawshaw Group, Dillistone Group, F&C Asset Management, F&C Private Equity Trust, Fairpoint Group, Fisher (James) & Sons, Huntsworth, Inmarsat, Intertek Group, Journey Group, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets, Motivcom, Pennant International Group, Somero Enterprises Inc.(Reg S), Tandem Group, Weir Group, Witan Pacific Inv TrustQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBlackrock North American Income TrustQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Investors Capital Trust 'A' Shares, Investors Capital Trust 'B' Shares, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Mercantile Investment Trust (The), Schroder Income Growth Fund, Torchmark Corp.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)ECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)GMSAlecto Minerals, Suretrack MonitoringIMSSDomino's Pizza GroupSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBrainJuicer Group, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv TrustTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSElectrocomponentsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSM4 Money Supply (09:30)M4 Sterling Lending (09:30)PMI Construction (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBetfair Group, Micro Focus International, Stagecoach GroupFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAbbey, Alumasc Group, Animalcare Group, Anite, Edge Performance VCT 'E' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'F' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'I' Shares, Edge Performance VCT G Shares, Hansard Global, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Smith (DS), Tricorn Group, Utilico Investments Ltd (DI)RD