Friday preview: Close Brothers, retail sales

20th Jan 2011 16:59

Merchant bank Close Brothers is set to announce a pre-close trading statement on an otherwise quiet day for company results.The bank put in a solid performance in the three months to end-October, with the group enjoying continued strong capital and funding positions. The bad debt ratio took a turn for the worse but this was "due to a bad debt in the legacy property portfolio", and the group said it expected the ratio for fiscal 2011 would be below that of 2010.UK retail sales figures for December are out and, given the conflicting reports about how the bad weather had (or had not) affected sales, predicting the result was described by Dr. Howard Archer of forecasting agency IHS Global Insight as a "lottery".Forecasting is his business, however, and he has predicted no change from November's level, with the rush to beat the VAT rise offsetting any lost sales caused by the snow. INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAcal, Cranswick, London & Associated Properties, MS International, Tarsus GroupFINALSSchlumberger Ltd.AGMSAdvanced Power Components, Troy Income & Growth TrustTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSClose Brothers GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSInternet Retail Sales (09:30)Retail Sales (09:30)Trends in Lending (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECarr's Milling Industries, MBL Group