The key business events happening this week

Apple results; Irish unemployment indicator; and UCD seminar on algorithmic consumers

Monday

Results: Naturex, BP, Honda Motor Company, Panasonic, Sony, Trinity Mirror.

Indicators: Irish industrial production (CSO), Euro zone inflation flash (Jul) and unemployment (Jun); UK consumer credit (Jun), mortgage lending and approval (Jun); German retail sales (Jun).

Tuesday

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Results: Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Apple, Pfizer, Deutsche Lufthansa, DSM, Forterra, Hugo Boss, Office Depot, Taylor Wimpey, Time Warner, Under Armour, William Hill, Xerox.

Indicators: Irish unemployment (Jul) and manufacturing PMI (Jul); Euro zone manufacturing PMI (Jul) and GDP growth rate flash (Q2); UK manufacturing PMI (Jul); German manufacturing PMI (Jul) and unemployment (Jul); US manufacturing PMI (Jul), construction spending (Jun) and car sales (Jul).

Wednesday

Results: Smurfit Kappa Group, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, Carlyle Group, DSV, Ferrari, Fitbit, Garmin, Groupon, Johnston Press, Jones Lang LaSalle, MetLife, Molson Coors Brewing Company, Nikon, Prudential, RSA Insurance Group, Rio Tinto, Shutterstock, Standard Chartered, Suzuki, Tesla, Travis Perkins.

Indicators: Euro zone PPI (Jun); UK construction PMI (Jul); US mortgage applications and rates (Jul).

Meetings: Exchequer Returns; ECB non-monetary policy meeting; Algorithmic Consumers – UCD Business Law and Regulation Research Group seminar on next generation e-commerce (National University of Ireland, Merrion Square, Dublin).

‘Algorithmic Consumers’ seminar

The next generation of e-commerce could very well replace the notion of human decision making.

The Algorithmic Consumers seminar in UCD this Wednesday will explore this concept – e-commerce conducted by digital agents based on algorithms.

An abstract of the idea suggests such an approach could predict what people want, make purchase decisions, negotiate transactions and even form “coalitions of buyers” for better terms.

“Algorithmic consumers have the potential to change dramatically the way we conduct business, raising new conceptual and regulatory challenges,” say organisers of the UCD Business, Law and Regulation Research Group event.

Professor Michal S. Gal of the University of the Haifa Faculty of Law will present her recent article on the subject published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology.

This “game-changing” development, she argues, will have significant implications for regulators.

Her work explores the technological advances shaping algorithmic consumption and analyses how it affects competition in the market and regulations.

Attendance is free but pre-registration is required.

Smurfit and Mondi expect profit decrease

Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa and Mondi are both due to report results this week (Wednesday and Thursday) and both are expected to see a drop in profits.

Analysts believe future performance on volumes and prices will help shape the companies’ full-year forecasts.

In a note ahead of the results, Davy said pricing momentum in the sector has been strong, a pattern that should continue, spurred by demand and low inventory levels.

Smurfit Kappa will report second-quarter results to end-June, with Davy forecasting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of €279 million, a little short of the consensus €290 million.

“The year-on-year decline (10 per cent) is due to three main factors: a sharp rise in OCC [old corrugated containers] prices which we estimate could be a €30 million headwind, a once-off pension gain of €10-12 million in Q2 2016; and, finally, we are assuming a 1 per cent decline in corrugated prices year on year in Q2,” Davy said.

Davy forecasts that Mondi interims will deliver Ebitda of €673 million, down 3 per cent from €697 million in the same period last year.

“While most parts of the business will have benefited from more positive volume and pricing trends, a lower forestry revaluation gain in the company’s South African operations is the main source of the fall,” Davy said.

Thursday

Results: AerCap Holdings, Axa, Aviva, Adidas, Asics, Becton Dickinson, GoPro, Isuzu Motors, Kellogs, Kraft Heinz, Mondi, Siemens, Sotheby's, Toyota, Viacom

Indicators: Irish services PMI (Jul) and consumer confidence (Jul); UK services PMI (Jul); Euro zone composite and services PMI (Jul) and retail sales (Jun); German composite and services PMI (Jul); US jobless claims (Jul) and composite and services PMI (Jul)

Meetings: JCI Dublin Make Your Business Boom seminar (Clayton Hotel, Dublin 2); Bank of England interest rate decision

Friday

Results: FBD Holdings, Allianz, RBS, Aon, Trivago

Indicators: Euro zone retail PMI (Jul); UK car sales (Jul); German factory orders (Jun) and construction PMI (Jul); US exports and imports (Jun) and unemployment (Jul)

Meetings: ArlixMeet conference on teenage entrepreneurs (Dogpatch Labs, CHQ, Custom House Quay, Dublin)