This page is quite old hence its rather spartan appearance.
Why not check out our Latest Stories page for our newest articles or search our site for anything.
MARKET COMMENT
By
The highlight of the week is likely to be the Pre Budget Report, which is due on Wednesday. However, there is some activity in the corporate diary too. Four banks are pencilled in for trading updates during the week. These are Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) on Monday, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL.) on Tuesday, Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) on Wednesday and Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB.) on Friday. Bradford & Bingley's comments on the current state of the mortgage market are likely to be subject to particular scrutiny. First Choice Holidays (LSE: FCD) is due to be posting full-year numbers on Tuesday. The holiday company is grappling with a shift in the way that consumers arrange their holidays. In October, First Choice Holidays said its results would be in line with expectations, suggesting pre-tax profits of £84m on sales of £2.2b. Also reporting on Tuesday is Grainger Trust (LSE: GRI). Shares in the buy-to-let specialist are sitting on a giddy 20 times earnings and yielding a mere 0.9%. Analysts have pencilled in a profits of around £100m for this year and net assets per share of 1,320p. Stagecoach's (LSE: SGC) interim results on Wednesday should provide investors with an opportunity to analyse the company's debt position. At the start of the year, Stagecoach was burdened with net borrowings of £560m. Since then though, the company has generated some £200m from the disposal of its North American operations. The safety products company Halma (LSE: HLMA) has half-time figures on Tuesday. Halma said trading has been in line with forecasts, so sales of £140m, approximately 10% higher than last year, are expected. Profits are not anticipated to show much improvement, due to a higher launch cost for new products. Phytopharm (LSE: PYM) is expected to report a loss on Wednesday. The bottom-line deficit could widen from £3.8m to over £5m. The botanical pharmaceutical company was dealt a cruel blow recently when Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) decided to discontinue a developmental appetite suppressant drug. Elsewhere in the healthcare sector, Medisys (LSE: MDY), a developer of safety syringes, is expected to report continuing losses. Notable Results
Monday: Medisys, Mitie Group & SCI Entertainment
Tuesday: First Choice Holidays, First Technology, Grainger Trust, Greene King, Halma, PHS Group, Phytopharm & Severn Trent
Wednesday: Blick, DS Smith, Hardys & Hanson, Henlys Group & Stagecoach Holdings.
Thursday: NHP
Friday: Anite Group