Friday preview: RBS reports second-quarter earnings

1st Aug 2013 14:05

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will unveil its second-quarter earnings on Friday amid reports the state-backed lender will soon announce its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).It is widely expected Ross McEwan, head of the bank's retail arm, will take the top job following Stephen Hester's shock departure in June. According to the Financial Times, RBS was in talks with regulators at the Bank of England about securing approval for his appointment.Whoever rises to the helm, will have to direct the bank through yet another wave of restructuring, five years after it was rescued with £45bn of taxpayer funds.Investment bank Rothschild is currently reviewing the government's proposal over whether to split the lender into a "good bank" and "bad bank" in order to return the bank to privatisation with better ease. Broker Investec recommended a 'buy' rating and target price of 317.40p on Wednesday, saying it expects "little clarity" on the government's good and bad bank review in the bank's results. The broker, however, flagged the possibility of an internal CEO announcement which would be a "positive from the standpoint of creating certainty on the matter". Investec said there will be five key franchise indicators to watch in the bank's results: non-core run-off; core UK retail loan growth; core UK interest margin trends; markets business revenue; and capital and liquidity position.In macro-economic news, investors will be closely following US data including the unemployment rate, factory and good orders, personal income and person spending figures after the Federal Reserve said it would maintain its monetary stimulus until the economy recovers. In the UK, construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figures will be released after PMI manufacturing reports in the Eurozone and China showed growth in the sector on Thursday.Friday August 2ndINTERIMSInmarsat, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI), Man Group, Rentokil Initial, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Vesuvius, William HillINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDriver Group, Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' SharesQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEInvestors Capital Trust 'A' SharesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSFactory Orders (US) (15:00)Goods Orders (US) (15:00)Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)Personal Income (US) (13:30)Personal Spending (US) (13:30)Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)Q2International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI)GMSKazakhmysANNUAL REPORTM&G High Income Inv Trust Income & Growth Units, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income Shares, Severfield-RowenSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE32Red, Lindsell Train Inv TrustAGMSMonks Inv Trust, UBC Media GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Construction (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBisichi Mining, Bond International Software, Brightside Group, Charles Stanley Group, CML Microsystems, E2V Technologies, Fidelity China Special Situations , Grafenia , Halfords Group, Invensys, KCOM Group, Lindsell Train Inv Trust, Plastics Capital, ProVen Growth & Income VCT, Shanks Group, TalkTalk Telecom Group , Tangent Communications, Tate & Lyle, Telecom Plus, United Utilities Group, Vianet Group, Workspace GroupRD