Next (NXT), Greggs (GRG) and B&M (BME) will kick off the post-Christmas retail reporting season on 5 January when all three companies issue trading updates.
They will reveal whether consumers were busy doing last-minute festive shopping or staying at home during the early to mid-part of December, a period characterised by snow, ice and freezing temperatures.
Clothing retailers are likely to have seen a rush for coats and jumpers given the shift in weather patterns. Any gains on this front may have been offset by a drop in footfall to shops during the icy period.
Data from research group Springboard showed that UK retail footfall increased by 38.8% on Boxing Day this year, versus the same day last year, with central London recording a 66% increase.
Retail parks might have fared better than the high street during December as shoppers ventured out in their cars and went to places with plenty of parking spots.
On this front, B&M may have done well helped by its value proposition appealing to cash-strapped consumers looking for cheaper options when doing their Christmas shopping. Dunelm (DNLM) also has a large presence in retail parks and has a value-led proposition. It reports half-year results on 19 January.
Investors will be eagerly awaiting a trading update from footwear seller JD Sports (JD.) on 10 January following better-than-expected numbers from Nike just before Christmas. JD topped the list of FTSE 100 risers on 30 December and the stock features as one of Shares’ top picks for 2023.
Sainsbury’s (SBRY) is the first of the quoted supermarkets to report on trading for the Christmas season when it updates the market on 11 January. Tesco (TSCO) and Marks & Spencer (MKS) report the following day. All eyes will be on management comment about sales trends, such as whether shoppers opted for fewer items in their basket or shunned the big brands in favour of supermarket own-label products.
WH Smith’s (SMWH) shops are traditionally busy places in December, with shoppers loading up their baskets with Christmas TV guides, wrapping paper, books and games. Yet disruption in the UK to train travel and in parts of the US for air travel present a challenge when it updates on 18 January.
