Rio, BHP, BT, Rolls-Royce and British Land lead next week's line-up.
On Wednesday, the Bank of England will reveal how well it has done in meeting its inflation target of 2% over the medium term. In November, it reckoned that holding the base rate at 0.5% and pumping £200bn into the economy would get the UK economy back on track.
But there are doubts as to whether the plan is working. The economy only grew 0.1% between October and December despite the hefty dollop of stimulation. Meanwhile, inflation jumped from 1.9% to 2.9% in December. That said, the central bank did warn that inflation would be volatile.
Digging deep
Volatility is something that long-term investors in mining companies are accustomed to. Shares in Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO), currently around £30, have ranged between £10 and nearly £60 in the last eighteen months.
Rio Tinto, which will report annual results on Thursday, has been embroiled in an ugly corruption saga in China, where four employees were arrested in Shanghai for espionage. One of the four has also been accused of bribery during iron-ore contract negotiations last year. The annual price haggling is set to re-open, with the miner hoping to push through a 40% price hike. BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT), which will report interim results on Wednesday, is involved in the similar negotiations.
Sticking with China, Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) has won a share of an engine order from Sichuan Airlines for a dozen Airbus A320s. The order is worth $100m to the engine maker, which will report its annual figures on Thursday. Profits are expected to be around £900m.
Cleaning up
Improvements are expected at Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) when it reports full-year results on Wednesday. The maker of Cillit Bang and Dettol recently raised its revenue forecast. A 6% improvement in turnover would imply annual sales of over £7bn. Profits could rise by as much as 20%.
Meanwhile, Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN) said there are some early signs that markets are stabilising. The wound management specialist will report annual results on Thursday. In November, it said trading profit margin had improved significantly compared to the previous year.
The best of British
When BT Group (LSE: BT-A) reports third-quarter results on Thursday, it will be expected to show that more extraneous costs have been taken out of the business. At the halfway stage in November, it was already nine-tenths of the way to meeting its objective of £1bn of cost cuts for the full year. There is also a dose of good news for university graduates hoping to join the telecom titan. BT said it will once again be setting up store on campuses across the UK to tap in the graduate market.
Property investors will be hoping for more evidence that commercial property prices are on the up when British Land (LSE: BLND) posts third-quarter numbers on Tuesday.
Recent cheery news from the sector have come from Land Securities (LSE: LAND) and Great Portland Estates (LSE: GPOR), with the latter reporting an 11% increase in net asset value. However, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club is worried that property companies remain at the mercy of the banks. It warned that appetite for commercial property may wane after the Bank of England calls time on its quantitative easing programme.
Notable results and updates
Monday: Amino Technologies, Randgold Resources, St Modwen Properties and Xstrata
Tuesday: Beazley, British Land and TUI
Wednesday: BHP Billiton, CSR, Hargreaves Lansdown and Reckitt Benckiser
Thursday: BT Group, Diageo, Rio Tinto, Rolls-Royce and Smith & Nephew
Friday: Shaftesbury
David owns shares in BT Group and Land Securities.
