Thursday preview: UK GDP, Unilever results in focus

(Sharecast News) - Thursday sees the release of results from Relx, Ashmore, Unilever, Schroders and British American Tobacco, as well as the latest UK GDP figures. UBS said that as Ashmore has already released its first-half AUM/flow information, investors will focus mainly on the P&L.

"The main focus will be on management fees and the average fee margin," it said.

UBS is forecasting FY25 management fees of £64m versus consensus expectations of £63m. The bank also expects investors to focus on the adjusted EBITDA, which it sees coming in at £25.5m versus consensus of £24.3m.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Unilever's recent performance has been better than expected, with all business units in growth territory in the third quarter.

He said the full-year results on Thursday will mark the first update since the demerger of its ice cream business.

"Due to this spin-off, markets are forecasting total sales to fall by around 11% to €54.2 billion. A mammoth streamlining of the business is underway though, with the group hoping to have delivered around €650 million of cost savings over 2025. As a result, operating profits are expected to fall at a slower pace of around 7% to €10.4 billion.

"More important will be the outlook for 2026, and how that compares to the medium-term underlying sales growth target of 4-6%. Hitting this level will require its current high levels of advertising spending to drive an uplift in brand awareness and market share. Analysts are cautiously optimistic that 2026 sales growth will come in at the lower end of this target range, before ramping up slowly in the following years."

In Europe, quarterly results from Hermes, AB InBev, Deutsche Boerse, Thyssenkrupp, Unibail Rodamco-Wesftield and Swisscom are due.

In the US, Applied Materials and Pinterest are among the companies slated to report, along with Bombardier.

On the macro front, fourth-quarter UK GDP figures will be published at 0700 GMT, along with industrial production and manufacturing data.

Thursday February 12

INTERIMS

Ashmore Group

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Knights Group Holdings , Rank Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Nokia OYJ

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

BlackRock American Income Trust, Carnival, GCP Asset Backed Income Fund Limited, NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red, Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust , Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV, Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (USD), The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Current Account (GER) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

Q4

Unilever

GMS

Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited NPV

FINALS

British American Tobacco, Nexus Infrastructure , Relx plc, Schroders, Unilever

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Ramsdens Holdings

EGMS

Eqtec Eur (CDI), Eqtec Eur (CDI)

AGMS

Anglesey Mining, easyJet, GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Vast Resources

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (07:00)

Claimant Count Rate (07:00)

GDP (Preliminary) (07:00)

Gross Domestic Product (07:00)

Index of Services (07:00)

Industrial Production (07:00)

Manufacturing Production (07:00)

RICS Housing Market Survey (00:01)

Unemployment Rate (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust, Tracsis, WH Smith

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Blackrock Income And Growth Investment Trust, Coventry 12 1/8% Perm Int Bearing Shs #1000, Oxford Metrics, Ramsdens Holdings , Renew Holdings