Retail sales and Focusrite the stand-outs for Friday

Retail sales are in focus tomorrow though November’s figures are probably still a bit early to reflect the recent bout of Omicron jitters.

October’s number was a surprisingly resilient gain of 0.8% excluding fuel as demand for non-food items and games and toys picked up amid the scare stories about Christmas supplies.

Consensus is for November to see a similar 0.8% rise, though economists suggest if anything the number might be a little higher.

Year-on-year sales are also expected to move into positive territory after steady improvement in recent months. 

There was a 1.3% dip in October but the consensus is for a yearly rise of 4.2% in November.

Focusrite 

Company announcements are starting to wind down with Christmas just a week away but Focusrite’s comment ahead of its AGM should be noteworthy.

Anyone who plays a musical instrument will know about Focusrite and its superb range of home studio/recording products.

It got a huge boost during the pandemic as people took up learning to play to relieve the lockdown tedium, taking the Aim-listed business’s value to over £1bn at one point.

Results for the year to end August showed why with underlying profits jumping by 80% and earnings per share by almost 600%.

Whether things have calmed down a bit since then is one of the things the market will be watching for tomorrow, though from a sales point of view Focusrite is probably one of the few that wouldn’t mind if Covid restrictions were tightened again.

Friday 17 December

AGMs: Focusrite PLC (AIM:TUNE) (Focusrite PLC (AIM:TUNE)), James Halstead PLC (AIM:JHD) (James Halstead PLC (AIM:JHD)), Marwyn Acquisition Company PLC (AIM:MACP) (Marwyn Acquisition Company PLC (AIM:MACP)), Petroneft Resources, Renalytix plc, Zanaga Iron Ore Company Ltd

Economic announcements: GfK consumer confidence (UK), retail sales (UK)