Week ahead: Persimmon, L&G results due; UK GDP in focus

Next week sees results from shipping services firm Clarkson on Monday, along with housebuilder Persimmon and Saudi Aramco, while Legal & General, Spirax, Rotork, Costain and Capita will publish numbers on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, results from Balfour Beatty, Hochschild Mining, Hill & Smith, Breedon, 4Imprint and Robert Walters will be in focus.

Thursday sees results from M&G, Computacenter, Savills and Vesuvius, while earnings from CLS Holdings will be released on Friday.

As far as Persimmon is concerned, Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said there shouldn’t be too many surprises in the full-year results, given the group’s trading update back in January.

"Net private sales rates were in line with the prior year, despite a softening market ahead of the UK Budget back in November," he said. "But average selling prices were trending higher, up 4% to around £278,000. That’s expected to push full-year underlying pre-tax profits to the top end of market expectations, pointing to growth of around 10% to £436m.

"With interest rates forecast to only trend slightly lower this year, much of the focus next week will be on the outlook for demand in the rest of 2026. Build cost inflation is likely to remain in the low single digits, supported by the group’s in-house materials businesses, which provide it with cheaper and quicker access to key building products. Alongside a growing order book, investors are keen to hear if there’s been any change to the group’s 2026 guidance for underlying pre-tax profits, which currently sits at between £461-487m."

For Legal & General, Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at HL, said the group’s dividend remains well supported and the completion of the US insurance sale has further strengthened the capital position.

"With management having already flagged a sizeable buyback linked to the transaction, investors are likely to focus on how quickly excess capital is returned, with the potential for £1.2bn to be announced at next week's full year results," he said.

"Expect to hear that bulk annuity volumes have come in ahead of guidance, reflecting strong demand from well-funded pension schemes and reinforcing L&G’s position as a leading player in the market. While a new strategic plan is still some way off, shareholders will be listening closely for early signals on simplification. Any indication that management is serious about reducing complexity and sharpening the group’s narrative could help underpin confidence."

In the US, Oracle, BioNTech, Dollar General and Adobe are among the companies slated to report next week, while European earnings will include Zalando, BMW, Henkel and Generali, among others.

On the macro front, UK GDP, industrial production, manufacturing production and trade figures on Friday will be among the highlights.