5 FTSE 100 Shares For The Week Ahead

Published in Investing on 1 February 2013

Randgold Resources Limited (LON: RRS), BG Group plc (LON: BG) and Smith & Nephew plc (LON: SN) all bring us results next week.

Results announcements are hotting up in February, as companies with years ending in December start to churn out their figures. We've already covered some of next week's big stories in our look ahead to February, including ARM Holdings, BP and GlaxoSmithKline.

But there are plenty more, so here's a roundup of what else is coming our way from the FTSE 100 next week:

Randgold

Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS), the Africa-based gold miner, starts the week off with annual results for the year to December on Monday. And they're expected to be decent, with a 14% rise in earnings per share currently expected by City pundits. And if forecasts are to be believed, we should see nice earnings growth over the next two years too. The shares, currently trading at 6,035p, are on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20, but that is expected to fall to 12 by 2014.

A third-quarter update in November was generally positive, though profit for the quarter was down 15% on the previous quarter. Subsequent to that, the firm was hit by a fire at its Tongon mine in Côte d'Ivoire, but there was no serious damage done and production was back to normal three weeks later.

BG Group

Tuesday is annual results day for BG Group (LSE: BG), and the oil & gas producer is scheduled for a pretty flat year. Those expectations caused quite a dent in the share price when the news was revealed in October's third-quarter update, but there is a decent return to growth expected for the next two years.

At 1,128p the shares are on a P/E for 2012 of 13, but with forecasts suggesting 4% earnings growth this year and 18% next, that is slated to fall to about 11 in two years time. And with global economic recovery looking more optimistic, I think it would be hard to call BG shares expensive right now.

Smith & Nephew

Orthopaedics and wound-care specialist Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN) is next up, with full-year results expected on Thursday. And what a year the shares have had -- at today's 732p, they're up 20% over the past 12 months, and up 26% from their low point of 580p last May.

Third-quarter figures were encouraging, and the firm has since made a nice-looking acquisition of wound care business Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for $782 million in cash. Overall forecasts suggest a fairly flat year in terms of earnings, but I reckon Smith & Nephew has good long-term potential. At 731p and on a P/E of 16, the shares don't look expensive to me.

Hargreaves Lansdown

On Wednesday we should have half-year figures from Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL), and this is another company whose shares have done exceptionally well. Although they have fallen back from their November peak of 780p to 693p today, that's still more than 60% up over the past 12 months.

Based on current forecasts, the shares are on a P/E of around 24, so the recent bull run might have gone far enough for now -- though analysts are expecting to see a 20% rise in earnings per share for the year to June, with a 3.5% dividend yield.

TUI Travel

And to finish our look at the week, Friday brings us a first-quarter update from TUI Travel (LSE: TT). While fellow high-street travel agent Thomas Cook was just about escaping insolvency by the skin of its teeth, TUI Travel managed to weather the storm without harm to its dividend, and has emerged strongly with a couple of years of earnings growth.

With the shares on 295p, the latest analysts' consensus for the year to September puts them on a P/E of under 11, with a 4.2% dividend yield expected. News on the important winter booking season will be keenly awaited.

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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares in Smith & Nephew and Hargreaves Lansdown.

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