Market Watch: Wetherspoon set to toast sales rise

PUBS chain JD Wetherspoon is expected to post resilient half-year numbers on Friday despite the chilling effects of the winter's snow on custom.

January's big freeze prevented some drinkers from getting to the firm's pubs, causing footfall to drop 0.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 January on a year earlier.

And the pubs firm has said it is confident in its full-year prospects, with analysts expecting the firm to smash its record 66.2 million underlying pre-tax profits last year, by reporting a 72m surplus in the full 12 months.

Numis Securities' analyst Douglas Jack has said the firm should benefit as the economy improves, but would also cope well with any future shocks as customers trade down.

John Lewis has stood out as a success story among recession-weary retailers and the department store and supermarket business will hope to translate that into a profits upturn when it reports full-year figures on Thursday.

The firm, which is co-owned by its employees, had to slash bonus payments 31 per cent last year after underlying profits for 2008 dived 26 per cent to 279.6m.

John Lewis, which also owns upmarket grocer Waitrose, has seen sales rally as consumer spending remained robust despite the economic gloom.

According to recent figures by industry researcher Kantar Worldpanel the grocer saw its market share rise to 4.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 21 February from the same period a year ago.

Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight said John Lewis had enjoyed a "highly satisfactory" February, which bodes well for the whole retail industry.

A bumper run of silver screen blockbusters such as 3D sensation Avatar are expected to have helped Cineworld to a strong year when it announces 12-month results on Thursday.

The cinema operator has said ticket takings rose 16.8 per cent in 2009, or by 14.6 per cent on a proforma 52-week basis.

Sales were given a huge boost by the pre-Christmas release of Avatar, which has seen worldwide sales top $1 billion. Cineworld is confident for 2010 with a film line-up that includes Shrek 4 and Sex And The City 2.

Analysts at Cazenove expect the firm to post profits of 30m for the 52 weeks.

Life and pensions group Standard Life will be the latest of the major players to report back with annual figures on Wednesday.

Analysts are pencilling in operating profits of around 662m, down from 933m a year earlier.

Week ahead

TOMORROW

Bovis Homes, Intertek (finals); Stagecoach (update).

TUESDAY

BUPA, Inmarsat, International Power, John Menzies, Liberty International, Weir, Wolfson Microelectronics (finals); Ashtead (Q3).

WEDNESDAY

Chime Communications, Costain, Inchcape, Northern Rock, Standard Life (finals).

THURSDAY

Cineworld, Computacenter, Dignity, John Lewis , Johnston Press, Morrisons.

FRIDAY

JD Wetherspoon (interims).