Week Ahead: Whitbread, Punch Taverns, Burberry

9th Oct 2009 11:26

What might loosely be termed 'the night out' sector is well represented in next week's results with pub group Punch Taverns and hotels, pub restaurants and coffee bars group Whitbread both making announcements.Heavily indebted pub group Punch Taverns said back in August that trading results continue to reflect the challenging market conditions being faced across the sector, but that it was on track to meet management's expectations for the financial year.The market's expectation for the full year is for profit before tax of £162.3m, up from a loss of £80.2m the year before, on sales of £1.44bn, down from £1.56bn a year earlier.The group is to put a number of its unwanted pubs under the hammer at auctioneer Christie & Co. It is not the first time it has gone down the auction route but it does suggest that it has been unable to get the prices it is seeking for these pubs so the results may contain a write down of the value of its pub estate. At the half-year stage the group shifted the valuation of its estate down by £130m to £6.2bn. Broker Panmure Gordon notes Punch also has £556m (87p per share) of goodwill on the balance sheet, £88m of which relates to the Managed estate from the acquisitions of Spirit and Mill House Inns. 'We think there is a risk that the group's NAV [net asset value] per share undershoots the market's expectations,' the broker said.Whitbread's US peer Marriott Hotels posted better than expected third quarter figures on Thursday prompting buying interest in Whitbread's shares on Friday, adding to the share price strength seen since early September when the company said profits this year would be at the higher end of market forecasts.Notwithstanding the above broker Charles Stanley is expecting 'a weak set of interim results, reflecting the impact of the hotel industry downturn on Premier Inn.'The broker is going for interim pre-tax profit of £110m, down from £123m a year earlier, on revenue of £698m (£682m).Budget hotel chain Premier Inn had been expected in some quarters to benefit from the trading down phenomenon during the recession but has seen mid-market operators move down into its price bracket. Premier Inns' like for like sales in the 24 weeks to 13 August were down 7.7%, slightly better than the previous three months. Revenue per available room at (9.4%) has improved from the first quarter run rate, the company added.The Costa Coffee chain is likely to prove the brightest spot in the Whitbread portfolio. The chain's like for like sales rose 2.7% in the 24 weeks to 13 August.Japanese broker Nomura Securities expects luxury fashion group Burberry to announce that it is continued to gain market share in the second quarter. Nomura is forecasting second quarter sales of £320m, with wholesale turnover of £150m marginally outweighing retail sales of £146m. 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GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEPremier Farnell, Restaurant GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAberdeen Growth VCT I, All Leisure Group, Ashley (Laura) Holding, BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust, British American Inv Trust, C&C Group, Camellia, Independent Media Distribution, Johnson Service Group, Mears Group, Melrose, Northbridge Industrial Services, Rightmove, Smith & Nephew, Tesco, TomkinsQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Schroder Income Growth FundUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSClaimant Count Unemployment Rate (09:30)Average Earnings (09:30)ILO Unemployment Rate (09:30)Manufacturing Unit Wage Costs (09:30)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBusiness Inventories (US) (15:00)FOMC Interest Rate Minutes (US) (19:00)Retail Sales (US) (13:30)Import Price Index (US) (13:30)Industrial Production (EC) (10:00)Domestic CGIP (JPN)Bank of Japan Target Rate (JPN)Consumer Confidence (JPN)FINALSAir Partner, Punch TavernsEGMSNoventa Ltd.AGMSAdili, Avingtrans, Diageo, Eaga, Goodwin Plc, Manchester & London TrustUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSUnemployment Rate (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEMaxima Holdings, Yamana Gold IncFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBegbies Traynor Group, Eaga, Eclectic Inv Trust, F&C Commercial Property Trust, Fidelity Asian Values, Hargreaves Services, Henderson EuroTrust, Jourdan, Networkers International, Quayle Munro, Strategic Equity Capital, Thorpe (F.W.), Wilmington GroupThursday October 15INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDavis Service Group, Sagicor Financial Corporation, United Business Media, ZotefoamsINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index (EU)Consumer Price Index (GER)Consumer Price Index (US) Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Philadelphia Fed Index (US)Empire State Manufacturing Survey (13:30)Industrial Production (JPN) Capacity Utilisation (JPN)Bank of Japan MPC Monthly Report (JPN)AGMSBlack Arrow, City of London Inv Trust, Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, Orpak SystemsQUARTERLY RESULTSPartyGamingFriday October 16INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBraime Ord, Cadbury, Chime Communications, Communisis, Delta, Devro, Hardy Underwriting Bermuda, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, IMI, JKX Oil & Gas, Kentz Corporation, Lavendon Group, Logica, Moneysupermarket.com, Serco Group, Stadium Group, TikitQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEPanther Securities, Queen's Walk Investment Ltd.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSUniversity of Michigan Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)Industrial Production (US) (14:15)Capacity Utilisation (US) (14:15)Trade Balance (EC) (10:00)FINALSClinton CardsEGMSMeikles AfricaAGMSBrooks MacdonaldFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAshley House, Best of the Best, Fiske, Goodwin Plc, Mckay Secs., Moneysupermarket.com, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust, Stewart & Wight