Supermarket Morrisons is expected to post another slump in half-year profits on Thursday, leaving investors keen to hear the turnaround plans of new boss David Potts as he presents his first set of results to the City.

Brokers at Barclays expect the Bradford-based chain to post a 2.5 per cent fall in half-year like-for-like sales, and a 23 per cent fall in earnings to £203 million compared to a year ago.

Mr Potts took over as chief executive from Dalton Philips in March. Mr Philips was ousted 12 months after the announcement of a three-year £1 billion programme to cut prices to fight the supermarket price war. This battle has seen discounters such as Aldi and Lidl take market share from the Big Four major players - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.

Morrisons is seen in some quarters as a takeover target with shares spiking in recent days on speculation that South African retail billionaire Christo Wiese is running the rule over the business.

Mr Wiese bought Sir Richard Branson's gym chain Virgin Active for £682m and fashion retailer New Look for £1.9bn earlier this year.

Mr Potts signalled his intention to get back to basics when he said in April he would cut 720 staff at Morrisons' head office, as it recruits 5,000 more shop floor workers to improve service levels.

He said he wanted the business to focus more on things that "matter to customers" such as product availability and helping shoppers at checkouts.

Brokers at Barclays said: "We expect Mr Potts to be very focused on the retail basics, which will likely involve investment in price, quality and service. While this may be the right way forward, we are wary of the profit impact."

Last month reports said that Morrisons was in advanced talks to sell its 150 M local convenience stores that generate annual sales of about £300m, as it concentrates on boosting its core supermarkets.

Barclays analysts also focused on whether Mr Potts saw a future for the firm's Match and More loyalty card introduced by his predecessor last October, and his plans for its internet shopping venture with Ocado.

Fashion retailer Next is expected to see a rise in half-year profits after enjoying spells of warm weather over the summer months

The group said full-price sales for the six months to July 25 were up 3.5 per cent, picking up from first-quarter growth of 3.2 per cent. It added that the half-year figure just beat the top end of the firm's guidance for growth of three per cent.

Brokers at Numis expect the firm to turn in pre-tax profits up 5.8 per cent to £343m for the period when it reports on Thursday, benefitting from sunshine in June and July.

The retailer said in an update last month that of its 3.5 per cent sales improvement, 1.7 per cent came from the opening of "profitable new space''.

It said that store sales rose 0.8 per cent in the period, while its Next Directory catalogue and online sales lifted 7.5 per cent.

Next also said that stock at its end-of-season sale was 4.8 per cent higher than a year ago, adding that although clearance rates were lower than 12 months ago they were in line with internal forecasts.

The retailer commented that its weekly sales figures throughout the period, demonstrated "the continued volatility of consumer demand".

It hiked its mid-point profit forecast for the full year from £810m to £825m, a rise of 5.5 per cent on the prior year. It also lifted its prediction for sales growth for the year to a range from 3.5 per cent to six per cent.

Next said the increase in the sales target was a result of what had been achieved in the first half of the year with no change to the forecast for the second half.

Analysts at Santander said they expected "another solid update" from Next due to strong trading at the end of the first and second quarters, and against some tough comparatives the year before.

But the update comes amid growing signs that trading in August - after the period covered by the figures - has been tougher for the sector. Figures from BDO showed a 4.3 per cent year-on-year fall in high street sales, including a 5.5 per cent decline for fashion.

Electricals and mobile phones giant Dixons Carphone is expected to grow first quarter sales again following a "terrific" full year.

Brokers at Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect the firm behind Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World to report group like-for-like sales up 3.5 per cent on Thursday, driven by UK same store sales up five per cent.

They expect the group's UK shops to continue to benefit from its increasing share of the contract mobile phone market, which is seeing user revenues rise. The UK accounts for around 70 per cent of group sales.

However, trading growth is expected to ease compared to the previous quarter which saw same store sales jump 13%, as the business built on momentum seen in Christmas trading.

Trading in the first quarter a year ago saw the business post four per cent like-for-like sales growth in the UK, buoyed by an increasing demand for TVs ahead of the World Cup last summer.

Brokers at Numis said: "We expect trading momentum to ease in the first quarter but for like-for-like sales to remain slightly positive in all regions."

Dixons Carphone is valued at around £5bn after a merger last summer between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse. The combined group employs more than 40,000 people in 14 countries.

The enlarged group reported that pre-tax profits surged 21 per cent to £381m in its first joint set of full-year results in July, in what chief executive Sebastian James said was "a terrific first year for Dixons Carphone".

Argos is expected to report another tough period of trading as it continues to revamp its stores providing customers with iPads to order products instead of catalogues, as owner Home Retail Group posts latest figures on Thursday.

City analysts expect sales at Argos, which has 788 shops, to report a like-for-like sales fall of 1.8 per cent, another quarter of declines..

It saw a 3.9 slide in the previous quarter to May 30 as a rise in sales of mobile phones failed to offset a decline in electrical goods.

Brokers at Nomura said in the second quarter sales at Argos should be helped by an improving electricals market and increasing public awareness of the "vast changes in the business."

It opened 32 Argos concessions within Homebase, and two within Sainsbury's during the first quarter as the supermarket forges partnerships with other retailers to fill under-used shop floor space.

Sales at Homebase, also owned by Home Retail Group, are forecast to have climbed by 4.1 per cent according to a consensus of City analysts, slower than the previous quarter's 5.4 per cent rise.

Brokers at Deutsche Bank expect the business to continue to see a boost from clearance sales as it undergoes a store closure programme.

Homebase closed 17 shops during the first quarter after it said in October it would shut around 25 per cent of its 323 home improvement stores, or about 80 outlets, by early 2018. The number of stores was down to 279 by the end of May.