Next week on the stock market

What to expect from a selection of FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and selected other companies reporting next week:

• Primark owner, Associated British Foods, looking to fashion a recovery in profits
• Full ships are crucial for Carnival's recovery
• Is Petrofac heading back towards profitability?

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FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and selected other stocks scheduled to report next week:

26-Jun
Associated British Foods*	Q3 Trading Statement
Carnival plc*	Q2 Results

27-Jun
ICG Enterprise Trust	Q1 Trading Statement
Petrofac*	Trading Statement
PZ Cussons	Q4 Trading Statement
Telecom Plus	Full Year Results

28-Jun
abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust	Half Year Results
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust	Full Year Results

29-Jun
Baltic Classifieds Group	Full Year Results
Moonpig	Full Year Results
Serco Group	Trading Statement

30-Jun
No FTSE 350 Reporters

*Events on which we will be updating investors.

Associated British Foods – Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst

Back in April, we heard that revenue at the key Primark business grew by more than expected, up 17% to £4.2bn, thanks to higher prices and volumes. Despite this, profits actually fell as the group decided not to pass on the full extent of inflated goods, energy, and shipping costs to customers. With the cost-of-living crisis remaining a dark cloud over consumers' heads, the group's cautious about a pullback in discretionary spending in the second half.

In the food businesses, which encompass household brands like Kingsmill, Ryvita and Ovaltine, price hikes and cost cuts are expected to feed through to the bottom line. That's led ABF to expect full-year underlying operating profits from food to be modestly ahead of last year. Next week's announcement will give us some steer as to whether those targets are still on track.

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Carnival – Matt Britzman, Equity Analyst

Carnival is doing everything it can to bounce back from the nightmare that was the pandemic. Second quarter results next week will be key. Markets have been promised full ships over the crucial summer season, that's essential if Carnival wants to return to positive underlying free cash flow for the full year.

The move towards larger, newer, and more efficient ships should give margins a push in the right direction as passenger numbers continue to recover. Shares have almost doubled so far this year, but it's worth stepping back a bit to look at the longer term. The group's still trading significantly below its pre-pandemic levels, and a mountain of work is left to do. First and foremost is on the balance sheet, where debt is the main focus. Liquidity looks fairly comfortable for now, but bringing down the debt pile is key.

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Petrofac - Derren Nathan, Head of Equity Research

Petrofac has challenges and opportunities ahead of it in equal measure. In his first year as CEO, Tareq Kawash's priority is to stem losses and cash outflows. While he is looking to the future and pivoting towards the energy transition, the core offer of engineering services to the petroleum industry must also get back on the right foot.

This month's announcement of a $1.5bn contract for a Petrofac-led joint venture to build a petrochemical plant in Algeria is a step in the right direction. In next week's trading update, we'll look for further evidence of conversion in the multi-billion dollar pipeline and for comfort that there are no more nasty surprises to emerge from some of the troubled legacy contracts.

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Unless otherwise stated estimates are a consensus of analyst forecasts provided by Refinitiv. These estimates are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Investments rise and fall in value so investors could make a loss.

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