Analyst views: What is the outlook for retailers’ figures this week?
NICK BUBB | ARDEN
“The resilience of trading at the premium end of the High Street, as evidenced by John Lewis, is still striking. Investors can’t buy shares in John Lewis, but they can buy shares in M&S, which is the best proxy for the strength of middle-class spending on food and clothing.”
KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
“The weather will be an issue. The results could give Sainsbury’s and Tesco the chance to underscore their growing and potentially strong online sales – a factor possibly aided by the poor weather. In comparison Morrisons currently lacks a strong online presence.”
SAM HART | CHARLES STANLEY
“We expect all of the food retailers to have had a relatively good Christmas, with UK consumers always prepared to splash out over the Christmas period. Inevitably, however, snow in the immediate run up to Christmas will have caused some disruption and associated loss of sales.”