Week ahead: Persimmon set to prove resilience

By SCOTT REID
Published on 02/07/2012 00:00

Housebuilding giant Persimmon is poised to come under close scrutiny tomorrow with its latest figures giving an insight into the state of the industry.

The group will be looked to for more signs of resilient trading, after it underlined its “excellent prospects” earlier this year by setting aside £1.9 billion to return to shareholders over the next decade.

Persimmon, whose brands include Charles Church and Westbury, has ridden out the weak housing market by focusing on building family homes in affluent areas, and more recently has benefited from a resurgence in the first-time buyer market.

Keith Bowman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The coming update is expected to see a continuation of positive trends.”

Catalogue and online shopping group N Brown is set to report more robust trading figures as it benefits from trends that have seen the population grow older and heavier.

The Manchester-based group – which owns the Figleaves, High & Mighty, Jacamo, Marisota and Simply Be brands – reported a 2.5 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £96.9 million in the year to 3 March, on sales up 4.8 per cent to £753.2m.

The recent spate of retail casualties is expected to boost its performance in its first quarter.

A company that makes half the gift wrap sold in the UK is expected to report a sharp rise in profits on Wednesday as it benefits from being stocked in value retailers including Poundland.

International Greetings has said profits for the year to the end of March will be at the top end of City expectations after a strong final quarter.