The bank holiday-shortened trading week will end fairly quietly, with the corporate highlight looking to be delayed full-year results from FTSE 250-listed insulation products group SIG PLC (LON:SHI)
Investors will likely focus on the group's balance sheet and liquidity position.
“While the disposal of the Air Handling has removed a big chunk of the debt, the underlying cash flow won't have been easy,” analysts at SIG's 'house' broker Peel Hunt said in a preview.
“We will also be looking for an update on the revolving credit facility discussions which were started on the back of that disposal,” they added.
Another key issue will be underlying trading before and during the current coronavirus pandemic.
The supplier of construction products saw weak trading at the end of 2019, driven by problems in UK operations, so the market will want to hear how that has progressed.
“Given the group's UK/European balance we suspect the revenue has not been (as) badly hit as pure UK merchants,” the Peel Hunt analysts said.
US data interesting
On the data front, in the US, April personal income and spending figures are expected to be “one of the more quirky” of all time, according to economists at RBC Capital Markets.
Personal income is expected to receive a “substantial boost” from governmental help, though small business owners may see a sharp drop due to lower revenues, with a total 10% rise.
Spending, on the other hand, is expected to sink 15% due to lower retail and hospitality sales.
“The combination of a large boost to incomes and a sharp drop-off in spending means that the savings rate will leap higher to about 33% from a nearby high 13% in March,” the RBC economists concluded.
Significant announcements expected on Friday:
Finals: SIG PLC (LON:SHI), Urban Logistics Reit PLC (Read More – Source
[contf]
[contfnew]
Proactiveinvestors
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
