Friday preview: NatWest and Pearson in the spotlight.


Friday will bring a quiet end to a very busy week that’s been packed full of central bank policy announcements and earnings.

NatWest

Source: Sharecast

First-quarter results from NatWest and a trading update from educational publisher Pearson will be in focus in the UK, while across the pond, ExxonMobil and Chevron will release Q1 numbers.

NatWest is expected to report pre-tax profit of £1.92bn, according to Bloomberg consensus, and net income of £1.32bn for the first quarter.

The return on tangible equity is estimated at +17.3%, while the Common equity Tier 1 ratio is estimated at 14.2%.

Investors in Europe will also get their first chance to mull the latest quarterly results from Apple, released after the closing bell on Thursday. Apple will be the fifth of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ to report this week, after earnings from Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms after the close on Wednesday.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: "A big focus is on Apple earnings after the company announced hardware boss John Ternus will take over from CEO Tim Cook later this year, a move that saw shares dip.

"Sales of the new iPhone look to be very robust whilst investors will be focused on the CEO transition, growth in China and tariffs."

On the UK macro front, consumer credit, mortgage approvals and net lending figures for March are due.

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