B&Q owner Kingfisher is expected to deliver an update to the City on its turnaround plans when it posts half-year results on Tuesday.

It is six months since Chief executive Veronique Laury, who took over from Sir Ian Cheshire in December, detailed her programme to overhaul the group, which includes closing as many as 60 B&Q stores over the next two years, affecting around 3,000 jobs in the UK and Ireland. The group said it can adequately service its customers from fewer stores.

There has also been speculation that the group might phase out the B&Q brand name.

Other plans include cutting back on some of the 393,000 products sold across the company, particularly as only 7,000 items - amounting to 7% of sales - are sold in at least two of Kingfisher's operating companies.

The group is expected to post half-year pre-tax profits up 1% to £380 million.

It comes after B&Q notched up a 3.4% rise in like-for-like sales in the second quarter in the ten weeks to July 11, driven by strong demand for cooling products and outdoor seasonal goods.

This was a marked turnaround on the 1.1% fall in sales across B&Q in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher saw another solid performance from its trade-focused building supplies chain Screwfix, where like-for-like sales leapt 16.7% higher, helping its overall UK and Ireland division to increase second quarter comparable sales by 5.5%.

Sales in Kingfisher's French chains Castorama and Brico Depot also rose after falls in the first quarter, lifting 1.7% and 0.7% respectively over the 10 weeks to July 11.

This helped group-wide same store sales increase 3.5%. For the 23 weeks to July 11, the group was up 2.1%.

The improvement for B&Q comes as rival Homebase is also seeing an upturn, with a 5.9% improvement in trading in the 13 weeks to August 29, although this was partly driven by stock clearance sales amid a programme of store closures.

Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments posts a trading update on Thursday as it bids to recover following its major roller coaster accident earlier this year.

Five people were seriously injured after the crash in June resulting in the park being shut down for four days, with the firm later saying it could take 18 months to recover as the group warned of a £50 million profits hit in this financial year.

Numis analyst Ivor Jones said recovery in Merlin's theme park unit was "unpredictable" but added: "Simply based on looking out of the window at the weather in August, we are not expecting a particularly positive message from this division."

The broker said that the wider group - which also operates attractions such as Madame Tussauds, the London Eye and Legoland parks - may see its London tourist attractions impacted by a strong pound.

Merlin opened a Shrek themed attraction in July and Star Wars attractions inside its Madame Tussauds units in London and Berlin in May.

Brokers at Deutsche Bank said it expected to get "early indications of the success" of these new operations.

In July chief executive Nick Varney said he was ''deeply sorry'' over the Alton Towers crash, which he described as a ''devastating event''. He said the firm would continue to do what it could to support those who were injured and their families.

He said that investigations into the accident continued and a decision on the future of the Smiler rollercoaster where it took place would be made ''in due course''.

He added: "In 12 to 18 months' time I believe Alton Towers will be back where it was."

Online grocer Ocado is expected to see sales growth ease when it presents a third quarter update on Tuesday, in a grocery market gripped by a fierce supermarket price war.

Analysts at HSBC expect the firm, which delivers goods for both Waitrose and Morrisons, to post retail gross sales up by 14% to £249 million in the three months to September 15 compared to a year ago, a slight fall from the 16.2% rise in the previous three months.

The broker said while Ocado has grown customers and extended its range, it also expects the firm's average basket size to fall by 1.6% to £110 since the second quarter, its sixth quarterly fall in a row.

Prices are falling year-on-year in the grocery industry as the Big Four players slash prices to compete with discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

HSBC said: "The ongoing price competition in the wider grocery sector in the UK is having an impact on Ocado especially on its Low Price Promise - cheaper than Tesco - matched products."

Last month reports claimed that US-based online shopping giant Amazon was gearing up to launch its Amazon Fresh food operation in the crowded UK grocery market.

HSBC experts said that Amazon has a history of sustaining losses while it builds new operations.

They added: "Our view is that Ocado appears like the most vulnerable player particularly if Amazon targets the lucrative, densely populated London market."

Meanwhile there has been speculation over the future of Ocado's £170 million tie-up with Morrisons as new chief executive David Potts seeks to turn around the supermarket's fortunes.

Mr Potts has already agreed to dispense with 140 convenience stores - another part of the business rolled out under predecessor Dalton Philips. But he said when presenting half-year results that the tie-up with Ocado had made a "good start" in what was a growth market.

Retailer JD Sports is expected to post a strong set results for its first six months of the year on Wednesday as it continues to cement key relationships with sportswear manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas.

Bury-based JD said in a half-year update in July that like-for-like sales were ahead of management forecasts, despite a strong pound affecting its European stores.

It added that its full-year pre-tax profit for the current year would be about 10% ahead of City forecasts of around £110 million.

The group operates more than 800 stores including sports outlets in the UK and Europe, as well as outdoor brands Blacks and Millets. Last year it disposed of its loss-making Bank fashion chain, which later went into administration.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said Nike and Adidas are both growing strongly at the moment with some key ranges sold exclusively at JD. They added that the firm was also catering well for the growth in women's training.

JD Sports opened its high tech flagship Oxford Street store in July, featuring touchscreen facilities for customers to scroll through products, a football boot room and a click-and-collect desk.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Freddie George said: "The store will be used to woo the premium brands, such as North Face, which has encouragingly been added to the range."

JD Sports said it plans a flagship store in every major European city where it operates.

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