Friday preview: Lloyds Banking, Carphone Warehouse, Fuller's

4th Jun 2009 16:20

Friday is the AGM for Lloyds Banking Group and it is also the deadline for the group's open offer. Shareholders will have until noon on 5 June to decide whether to participate in the bank's placing and compensatory open offer. Despite the recently announced decision by Sir Victor Blank to step down from the role of chairman, directors are likely to come under fire from shareholders irate at the board abandoning its conservative strategy to buy up HBOS just at the point when, literally and figuratively, the safe and boring approach was about to pay dividends.Though Blank's decision may spike the guns of some dissident shareholders, chief executive officer Eric Daniels is sure to take some flak for his part in the decision making process that led to the company taking a leap in the dark with its acquisition of HBOS which was made, the board has admitted, without adequate due diligence being performed.Also on Friday, Carphone Warehouse releases its full-year results. The group recently bought the UK assets of Tiscali to combine them with its Talk Talk broadband operation. Carphone's management expects the acquisition to be immediately earnings enhancing but there is still the danger of muffing the integration of the two companies. The market is also waiting on further news regarding the group's timetable for splitting itself into separately listed retail and telecom businesses. Management said this would not go ahead until credit markets improve substantially. "Given the wider economic climate, the board is still reviewing various options in respect of the most appropriate allocation of existing debt facilities and expects to make further progress in this regard in the coming months," the company said last month.Brokers are predicting pre-tax profits of £118m on sales of £1,419m. Fuller, Smith & Turner, brewer of London Pride ale, is expected to show a slide in pre-tax profit to £21.4m for the year to 31 March 2009 from £23.8m the year before on sales of £183.3m. Given that fellow London-focused brewer and pub owner Young & Co recently reported a 63% slide in pre-tax profits, a 10% slide in Fuller's pre-tax profit (if broker forecasts prove correct) would count as a good performance. Current trading is sure to have received a lift from the weakness of sterling against the euro and the recent spell of good weather, but fears that the government will accept the recommendation of a Parliamentary report calling for a loosening of the "beer tie" may act as a drag on sentiment towards the shares.QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEFrontlineFINALSCarphone Warehouse Group, Fuller, Smith & Turner, HornbyEGMSQonnectisAGMSAer Lingus Group, Aer Lingus Group, Dignity, Dillistone, Lloyds Banking Group, Planet Payment Inc., PuricoreTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSSThreeFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDowning Protected VCT IX, Downing Protected VCT VIII, G4S, Hallin Marine Subsea International, Hardy Underwriting Bermuda, InterContinental Hotels Group, Interserve, JKX Oil & Gas, Neptune-Calculus Income & Growth VCT, Nestor Healthcare, New Europe Property Investments, Northern 2 VCT, Puma VCT V, Robert Walters, RSA Insurance Group, S & U, Stockcube.com, StraightUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPPI Input Prices (09:30)PPI Output Prices (09:30)PPI Core Output Prices (09:30)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSChange in Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)Change in Manufacturing Payrolls (US) (13:30)Average Hourly Earnings (US) (13:30)Average Weekly Hours Worked (US) (13:30)Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)