Tuesday preview: Persimmon, Whitbread updates in focus

(Sharecast News) - Housebuilders and recruiters will be in focus, with updates due from Persimmon and PageGroup, while Whitbread is also due to update the market. As far as Premier Inn owner Whitbread is concerned, UBS said it expects UK revenue per available room at around 2% for the third quarter.

"The company is yet to update the market on its mitigation measures for the increase in rates in 2027 and any adjustment to its 2030 targets," the bank said. "However, we think management will confirm 2026 guidance and consensus estimates around £460m PBT."

Michael Hewson at MCH Market Insights said Persimmon has managed to see some decent gains in the share price since sliding to two-year lows of 1,031p back in September, when the housebuilder reported a 4% increase in new home completions to 4,605, and a 13% increase in underlying operating profit of £172m.

"This turned out to be somewhat of a turning point for the share price with the initial weakness turning out to be temporary. Operating margins saw a modest increase of 10bps to 13.1% with management saying that the house builder was on track to meet its full year forecasts," he said.

"Total group revenue rose 14% to £1.5bn, while profit before tax came in at £146.7m, only modestly higher from last year's £146.3m. In Q3 there was similarly positive news with forward sales rising 15% to £2.79bn, driven primarily by private forward sales. The private average selling price also remained resilient, rising 1.5% year on year, to £295,150.

"Management expressed confidence that despite the uncertain outlook that the company was on track to meet expectations for the year, helping to push the shares back towards last year's peaks at 1,417p."

On the macro front, the BRC retail sales monitor will be released overnight, while the US consumer price index for December is also due on Tuesday.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "The market is expecting a 0.3% increase on the month, and the annual rate of both core and headline CPI to remain at 2.7%, after a sharp fall in price growth in November. Some argue that inflation is running hotter than this, and November's moderation in price growth was due to the effects of the government shutdown. Thus, the whisper as we lead up to Tuesday's report is that the actual CPI rate could be slightly higher than expected.

"Although we could see some upward pressure on prices in the US, retailers have reported slashing prices in the holiday season and tariff pass through has been milder than expected. Overall, US economic activity is rising and inflation is moderating because of productivity gains. If this continues, then we could see weaker inflation without this being an issue for economic growth. US retail sales and initial jobless claims will also be watched closely."

Tuesday January 13

INTERIMS

Games Workshop Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Braemar , National Grid, Norcros

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRC Sales Monitor (00:01)

Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)

New Homes Sales (US) (15:00)

AGMS

Nanoco Group

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Gamma Communications, Grafton Group Ut (CDI), Hunting, IntegraFin Holding, Pagegroup, Whitbread

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Claimant Count Rate (07:00)

Unemployment Rate (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Fidelity Special Values