The week ahead – May 16, 2011: results, meetings and trading updates
We list the key corporate and economic events set to effect the markets in the week beginning Monday, May 16, 2011.
Vodafone is expected to report full-year operating profits at the top end of its range on Tuesday Photo: GETTY
7:53PM BST 15 May 2011
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Monday, May 16
• Xchanging will update the market on recent trading on Monday, ahead of its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. The outsourcing company, which runs back-office activities such as invoice processing and paying staff, said at its full-year results at the beginning of March that 2011 would be a year of transition as it addresses operational problems including its Cambridge IT business.
When unveiling its full-year figures, Xchanging, which issued a profit warning in February, outlined a four-part plan for recovery as it looked to cut costs. The group made a pre-tax loss of £60m in 2010, driven by £110m of impairment charges. The loss came against a profit of £18.4m a year earlier. Revenues rose 4pc to £780.6m.
Full-year results
Cranswick
Interim results
ITE Group, RM
Economics
European finance ministers' monthly meeting, Europe inflation figures
Tuesday, May 17
• Vodafone is expected to report full-year operating profits at the top end of its £11.8bn-£12.2bn range.
The world's largest mobile phone company is expected to report revenue of about £45.5bn compared with £44.5bn last year. It will make Vodafone one of a selected group of European telecoms companies to report growth.
Its southern European operations are likely to disappoint due to the region's lacklustre economy, but its US and Indian interests are expected to report strong growth. Vodafone's UK business is likely to be singled out as a star performer. Earlier this year, Vittorio Colao, chief executive, said the company was benefiting from Britain being the "most digitally advanced" country in Europe.
"Vodafone has started, and should continue to out-perform peers in Europe as the shift to data benefits its better networks," said analysts at Bernstein Research.
The company, which has off-loaded many minority interests, is also due to update the market on the planned sale of its 24.4pc stake in Poland's Polkomtel, which could fetch €4bn (£3.4bn).
Full-year results
Robert Wiseman Dairies, Yell Group, Vodafone
Interim results
Diploma, GW Pharma,
Trading update
Aviva, Essar Energy, Hilton Food Group, Derwent London
Economics
UK inflation figures
Meetings
Beale (EGM), Evolution Group (AGM)
Wednesday, May 18
• ICAP presents its preliminary results for the 12 months to the end of March. The world's largest inter dealer broker is forecast to report a more than 40pc increase in pre-tax profits to about £350m on revenues of £1.73bn, up 8pc on 2010.
Expectations are for an increase in the dividend to 18.66p per share from 17.55p last year. The company is expected to have benefited from strong revenues from its electronic broking division, while continued volatility in credit markets is also likely to have proved lucrative.
• Land Securities, Britain's biggest listed property company, kicks off the reporting season for the commercial property sector.
Analysts have pencilled in an adjusted net asset value per share, a key measure for property companies, of 768p compared with 737p at the half-year and 691p last year. The consensus for pre-tax profits, taking into account changing property valuations, is £258m, compared with £1.1bn last year and a £4.8bn loss in 2009. Francis Salway, chief executive, is also expected to comment on the health of the UK retail market and the City, where Land Securities is building the Walkie Talkie skyscraper.
• Investors will want to see whether National Grid has made progress in reviewing its US business, after a mixed year for the utility.
It didn't get the increase in rates that it wanted from the American regulators, cut 1,200 US jobs and is currently under investigation over suspicions that management expenses were mistakenly passed on to ratepayers across the pond.
However, it said earlier this year that it expected profits to have increased "significantly" for the full-year and shareholders are likely to be pleased by a promised 8pc increase in the dividend.
Full-year results
ICAP, Land Securities, Mothercare
Interim results
Compass
Trading update
French Connection
Economics
UK employment figures, minutes of Bank of England MPC meeting
Meetings
Cineworld (AGM)
Thursday, May 19
• SABMiller is due to report results for the year to the end of March. The world's second-largest brewer is expected to turn in pre-tax profits of $3.72bn (£2.3bn) and sales of $18.3bn, according to forecasts.
The brewer of Grolsch and Peroni said last month like-for-like beer sales rose 3pc in the three months to the end of March and increased 2pc over the year as a whole.
SAB stands to benefit most from a renewed bout of takeovers in the beer world, according to a recent research note by Goldman Sachs. The London-based company, which makes most of its sales in emerging markets, has been linked to bids for Foster's brewing operations in Australia and privately owned French company Castel's beer business in Africa.
Full-year results
Booker, Dairy Crest, Investec, Invensys, National Grid
Interim results
None scheduled
Trading update
AMEC, Close Bros
Economics
UK retail sales figures, CBI industrial trends data, Japan's Q1 GDP figure
Meetings
Prudential (AGM)
Friday, May 20
Interim results
Mitchells & Butlers
Trading update
John Menzies
Economics
None announced
Meetings
Alliance Trust (AGM)
Economic Week Ahead
The UK's inflation rate is set to resume its upwards path in figures out on Tuesday, after a surprise easing last month.
The rate, as measured by the consumer prices index, dipped from 4.4pc to 4pc - still double the target - but economists do not expect further respite.
"Changes to the alcohol and tobacco duty rates regime [in March] ... will be one of the reasons for this – with the measures adding 4p to a pint of beer and 50p to a packet of economy cigarettes," said Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec.
He also sees price uplifts coming from fuel and water bills, taking the headline rate to 4.2pc. The Bank of England thinks this could hit 5pc within months, but expects the pace to slacken as factors like the VAT rise fall out of the equation.
Meanwhile the focus will remain on the eurozone's debt crisis as its finance minsters meet on Monday, joined later by their EU counterparts from outside the currency bloc.
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