A QUIET week for corporate news will see results from retailer Halfords, a reshuffle of the FTSE 100 Index and more signposts over the health of UK manufacturers.
Car parts and cycles chain Halfords, due to post full-year results on Wednesday, has has gained a helping hand from Government tax breaks to sell one million bicycles in the 12 months to March for the second year in a row.
Halfords said 34,000 people bought bikes through the Cycle2Work scheme in the past year and has proved its resilience after guiding the market towards annual profits of about £92m for the full year, compared with £90.2m previously.
The firm has kept a tight rein on costs, cutting jobs before Christmas and announcing an overhaul of its distribution system under plans to save another £10m.
Consumer products firm PZ Cussons will give its latest update on Wednesday amid hopes the Imperial Leather maker will continue its recent resilient trading.
Cussons, which bought the Sanctuary Spa and Sanctuary products business in 2008 for £75m, said the beauty and body care brand had been trading well – supported by a significant pipeline of new products.
The company, which also owns the Charles Worthington range of shampoos and conditioners, said the outlook for the full year “remains positive”.
Manufacturers have endured torrid conditions for more than a year but official figures due on Wednesday could signal an end to the decline in the sector.
Christmas savings club Park should post a healthy rise in annual profits on Thursday as families budget more carefully. The group is traditionally loss-making in the first half of its financial year but is expected to post annual profits of £6.2m for the year to March, well ahead of the £5.2m seen a year earlier.
At the half-year stage, Birkenhead-based Park said its scheme allowing families to spread payments had seen a 15 per cent surge in orders. The AIM-listed firm, founded in 1967 as a Christmas hamper supplier, said early orders for 2009 were already well up on the comparative period last year.
The London Stock Exchange is to reclaim its position as a blue-chip stock after Wednesday’s FTSE reshuffle, helping new chief executive Xavier Rolet start on the front foot.
The LSE suffered over the past year, having been unceremoniously booted out of the FTSE in March after shares plunged just two months before reporting the first annual loss in its life as a listed company. News of the £250.8m slump into the red was badly timed, coming on the day that boss Dame Clara Furse bowed out after an eight-year tenure.
But a promotion back into the top tier would make a good start for her successor Mr Rolet.
The LSE is one of three firms likely to be reinstated in the leading share index when the changes take effect on June 19, alongside private equity group 3i and plumbing firm Wolseley.
The quarterly FTSE review will be based on Tuesday’s closing share prices, with approval due from the FTSE Committee at its meeting the following day.
Firms facing the axe include property company Liberty International – a move that would see it kicked out of the FTSE 100 for the first time since it joined in December 2002.
Lloyd’s of London insurer Amlin is also set for the chop, as is Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here