Next week on the stock market

July’s capital markets day had one core job, to convince investors that medium-term targets were achievable. The renewed focus on core areas like Motor and Home, and introducing the Direct Line brand to price comparison sites, seem to have done the trick. Recent results have painted a better picture than we’ve had for some time, but there’s a long way to go before this turnaround is complete.

Aggressive price hikes should feed into next week’s half-year results, and we’ll be hoping to see ongoing improvement in insurance profitability. One thing to keep a close eye on is how that’s impacted customer numbers. There’s a fine line between protecting profits and pushing too many price-conscious customers out the door.

Vistry’s transformation into a Partnerships giant, which specialises in providing affordable housing, has helped it put in a resilient showing of late. In a tough market, sales rates have improved over the first half of the year, and total completions were up 8% to 7,750 new homes.

We don’t expect much in the way of surprises when results are announced next week. First-half underlying operating profit is expected to rise around 10% to £227mn, helped by increased sales volumes and lower building material costs. The group’s also planning to return £1bn to shareholders over the next three years through a combination of dividends and share buybacks. But last we heard the group was sporting a net debt position, so we’re keen to hear more on its plans to boost balance sheet health.

Berkeley’s last set of results was slightly better than markets were expecting. Back in June, we heard that full-year revenue fell 3.4% to £2.5bn as the group sold 13% fewer homes than in the prior year. This lower revenue saw pre-tax profits fall 7.7% to £557mn, despite broadly flat operating costs.

In next week’s trading update, we’re hoping to hear if the recent change of government and interest rate cut have had much of an impact on sales. And after the first four months of its financial year, we’re likely to get an update on whether the £525mn pre-tax profit guidance is still on track.