Can Sainsbury’s Avoid A New Year Shock With Q3 Results?
Spreadex | Jan 07, 2019 09:25
Who knows how poorly 2018 would have panned out for the orange supermarket if it hadn’t announced that shock merger with Asda back in April? That major bit of M&A news eventually led the stock to a 4 year peak of £3.40 in August, having opened at £2.43.
However, by the end of the year it had fallen back to £2.65, as a horrible December erased most of its post-deal announcement glow. Since the start of 2019 it hasn’t been able to do much, investors holding off ahead of its Q3 update. J Sainsbury (OTC:JSAIY) PLC now sits at a current trading price of £2.68 (Spreadex, 07/01/2018).
The firm’s last statement came in early November, as it reported its half year results. There it unveiled a 3.5% rise in underlying group sales to £16.88 billion, alongside a decent 0.6% jump in like-for-likes. Sainsbury’s claimed that adding Argos outlets to its supermarkets was ‘driving an increase in trading intensity’.
Underlying pre-tax profit, meanwhile, climbed 20.3% to £302 million, with an 18.4% surge in underlying basic earnings of 10.3p per share, and an unchanged interim dividend of 3.1p. However, factor in exceptional costs and pre-tax profits plunged from £220 million to £132 million year-on-year.
In terms of Wednesday’s Q3 figures, analysts are expecting like-for-likes to rise 0.3%, down from the 1% growth managed across the second quarter. Investors will also be on the lookout for any revisions to the firm’s full year underlying pre-tax profit guidance, after Sainsbury’s had stated it was ‘on track’ to deliver on the market consensus of £634 million back in November.
J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) has a consensus rating of ‘Hold’ alongside an average target price of £3.13.
Disclaimer: Spreadex provides an execution only service and the comments above do not constitute (or should not be construed as constituting) investment advice or recommendations, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any person placing trades based on their interpretations of the above comments does so entirely at their own risk. Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the longest established spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.
Get The App
In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.
Original post
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.