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Monday
Results: Avid Technologies, Aryzta (H1).
Indicators: Irish construction PMI (Feb)
Tuesday
Results: Applegreen, Prudential, SIG, Trinity Biotech, Volkswagen, Symrise, Geberit
Indicators: Euro zone industrial production (Feb); German inflation (Feb), economic sentiment (Mar); US business optimism (Feb), labour market conditions (Feb)
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Meetings: Cork Chamber: Standing Out From the Crowd: How doing good is good for business, corporate responsibility event (River Lee Hotel, Western Road, Cork).
Applegreen marches on
All eyes will be toward the ongoing march of Applegreen when its full year results come out on Tuesday. The Irish forecourt operator is expected to have grown its number of stations to almost 220 by the end of December and there is no sign of confidence letting up.
Ahead of the numbers, Goodbody is predicting Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of €31.9 million, although results will be tempered by an estimated 6 per cent headwind given the company’s exposure to sterling in its key UK market.
Applegreen must also finance its acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in a Dublin fuel terminal announced earlier this year.
The Dublin Port facility is jointly owned by Topaz and Valero Energy and is one of three fuel importing facilities in the capital. The interest being acquired by Applegreen was previously owned by Esso Ireland.
However, it is expected to have the financial flexibility to complete this and continue its rollout strategy, says Goodbody analyst Jason Molins.
“A key part of the investment story is the company’s measured approach in adding stations to its expanding estate,” he added.
The company has continued its tentative steps into the US market too and was expected to have reached about 11 stations by the end of 2016.
Wednesday
Results: Audi, Samsonite
Indicators: Euro zone employment change (Q4); British unemployment (Jan), average earnings (Jan); US interest rate decision, inflation (Feb), retail sales (Feb), housing market index (Mar)
Meetings: Sell Your Story sales and marketing conference (Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin); Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce: Cross Border Networking event (Titanic Centre, Belfast)
Sanders sells his sales pitch
Former Yahoo executive Tim Sanders has a somewhat American approach to sales. The bestselling author, and now conference speaker, has honed his "deal-storming" technique, a synthesis of dealmaking and brainstorming. The clue is in the title.
“It leads to faster problem solving and a huge lift in your ability to close the most complex sales situations,” Sanders promises in the run-up to the Sell Your Story sales and marketing conference in Dublin on Wednesday.
His approach revolves around life’s five key stories and how they can be tailored to the business world. It is the stuff of conference-speak and should mesh nicely into an event exploring the most successful sales techniques available.
The conference will look at different strategies including from Mitra Wani, an AI expert currently working on the first teller-less bank in the US with an anticipated launch date of 2020.
Other speakers will include best-selling author Paul Sloane; EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 John Purdy; Clare Dillon of Microsoft Ireland and Aoibheann O'Brien, co-founder of FoodCloud.
Thursday
Results: Adobe Systems, Balfour Beatty, Lufthansa, Swatch Group, Heidelberg Cement
Indicators: Irish inflation (Feb); Euro zone inflation (Feb); British interest rate decision; US jobless claims (Mar)
Meetings: The British Irish Chamber of Commerce (BICC) "Ireland and England: The Only Game in Town?" conference (Clayton Hotel, Dublin 4); Irish Beer and Whiskey Festival (RDS, Dublin 4).
Friday
Results: Tiffany
Indicators: Euro zone balance of trade (Jan), construction output (Jan); US industrial and manufacturing production (Feb)