STOCKS TO WATCH: Burberry | Love Hemp | Greggs

A tense week ahead at Burberry where bosses could get a bloody nose at their annual meeting to be followed by the release of a trading update that might be best approached with low expectations. 

Glass Lewis is advising shareholders to vote against the reappointment of Danone chief executive Antoine de Saint-Affrique as a director, warning that he could be overstretched if there was a crisis at the luxury goods giant. 

Meanwhile, Pirc is urging investors to oppose the pay report, pointing out that Burberry executives are paid 44 times more than the average member of staff. 

Chequered future:  Burberry shares have already dropped this year

Analysts expect that the trading figures, to be announced on Friday, will show a drop of more than 40 per cent in first-quarter revenues because of China’s economic situation and Covid lockdowns. 

Shares have already dropped this year with this in mind. 

Hargreaves Lansdown’s Sophie Lund-Yates warns a shaky outlook could hit shares further.

Former Novacyt boss at Love Hemp

Novacyt’s former chief executive Graham Mullis has taken up the chairman role at Love Hemp, a struggling cannabis company whose shares on Aquis were suspended in May. 

Love Hemp’s corporate adviser quit when an investor in a February placing failed to complete a £1.2million investment – prompting the suspension. 

A replacement is yet to be found. Mullis was a littleknown boss outside of biotechnology circles before the pandemic. 

Novacyt’s fast-moving work to create a test for Covid in 2020 made its shares rocket and turned it into a stock market darling. 

But the AIM-listed firm’s star has since faded and it is now locked in a battle with the Department of Health and Social Care. 

Greggs eyeing up petrol station market    

As sales lag in city centres, Greggs is eyeing up the petrol station market. 

It is opening its first store with fast-growing forecourt operator Ascona. 

Another 30-odd are expected to follow over the next five years. 

Greggs is Britain’s leading budget baker, but the FTSE250 group said in May that it is suffering from a permanent shift to ‘hybrid’ working. 

Ascona’s 59 sites across England and Wales serve 170,000 customers a week. 

B&Q owner Kingfisher latest target for hedge funds

Almost 8.6 per cent of the FTSE100 group’s stock is out on loan to short-sellers who are betting that its share price will drop. 

This adds up to a whopping £420million position against the group, which was formerly one of the ‘pandemic winners’ after those stuck at home during lockdowns hastily caught up with redecorating projects and spent more time working from their spare rooms. 

A ‘teach-in’ day for analysts and investors last week had little effect and some short positions rose afterwards. 

Short bets have also increased as the scale of the cost-of-living crisis becomes more apparent and threatens to hit sales. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk