The Week Ahead: Has Asos’s Christmas been as bad as Boohoo’s?

There are worries in the City that Asos may have had a tough Christmas

Has Asos’s Christmas been as bad as Boohoo’s? The online fashion retailer Boohoo collapsed 40 per cent last week after telling investors that sales were 25 per cent lower than expected. There are worries in the City that rival Asos may have had a similarly tough time.

It would cap a torrid year for the online retailer, which was hit by unfavourable exchange rates and a factory fire in 2014. Andrew Wade at Numis is confident that things will start to improve this year as comparable sales figures get weaker and the impact of zonal pricing begins to be felt.

Taylor Wimpey has an update today. The housebuilder slipped last week after Jefferies warned that conditions in the sector could deteriorate this year. Forward guidance will be closely monitored.

Expect bleak numbers from Morrisons when the retailer becomes the last listed supermarket to report on festive trading tomorrow. Bernstein forecasts that December sales will be 4 per cent lower than last year.

Britain’s favourite baker, Greggs, has a trading update tomorrow, as does Ashmore, the recruiter Michael Page, C&C Group, Connect Group and SIG. Cairn Energy will update on its drilling programmes and Spirit Pub Group’s shareholders will vote on the company’s merger with Greene King.

The full impact of Black Friday will be revealed by BRC retail sales data for December due tomorrow. CPI figures due the same day are likely to reveal that inflation has ground to a halt, thanks to early salvoes in the supermarket price war and falling oil prices.

Shoe Zone has full-year figures on Wednesday, while midweek also sees updates from Barratt Developments, Burberry, Cineworld, Jupiter Fund Management, Ocado and Premier Oil.

Thursday brings updates from Booker, Bovis Homes, Clinigen, Experian, Mothercare, Polar Capital and Tullow Oil, while Primark-owner Associated British Foods and Argos-owner Home Retail will both report on festive sales.

The week draws to a close with trading updates from moneysupermarket.com, Record and Spectris, and production results from Acacia Mining.