Thursday preview: Admiral and CRH report finals

2nd Mar 2016 13:04

(ShareCast News) - Admiral's full year results on Thursday are expected to show modest growth in UK car insurance profitability.Numis said it expects pre-tax profit to be "broadly unchanged" from 2014 at £359m, as an improvement in UK car insurance profits is likely to be offset by an increased drag from investment in the US price comparison business, compare.com.The broker has forecast UK insurance will contribute profits of £418m, compared to £398m the prior year. It also expects a modest reduction in the collective loss of the international insurance businesses from £20m to £17m."Admiral is one of our key picks in the sector on the basis that market forecasts look to conservative and we see good potential for the company to gain market share during the current pricing upturn," said Numis analyst Nick Johnson.CRH also reports its finals, with UBS pencilling in a 2.9% like-for-like increase in 2015 revenues to €23.1bn. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and assets (EBITDA) is expected to come in at €2.08bn, including €140m of EBITDA from assets the company bought from Lafarge and Holcim.UBS predicts the dividend to be maintained at 62.5c."We expect an update on the integration of the Lafarge and Holcim assets and would expect CRH to raise its guidance for synergies which were pegged at €90m at the time of the announcement," UBS analyst Gregor Kuglitsch said. "We think there is potential for this figure to double. At this stage in the year, we expect CRH to give directional guidance: we expect CRH to guide for further growth in the US and slight growth in Europe, perhaps flagging stable year-on-year."Thursday 03 MarchINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlumasc Group, Ashmore Group, Best of the Best, Carclo, Colefax Group, Darty, Dunelm Group, Genus, Hansard Global, Hargreaves Lansdown, Hays, Ibex Global Solutions, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, MJ Gleeson , Park Group, Redde, Renishaw, Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref SharesQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBlackrock North American Income Trust , Premier Energy & Water Trust, Real Estate Credit Investments PCC Ltd Pref Shs , SQN Asset Finance Income Fund LimitedFINALSAdmiral Group, Aggreko, Alpha Bank GDR (Reg S) USD, BBA Aviation, Carillion, Cobham, Communisis, CRH, Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd. (Singapore), Exova Group , Genel Energy, H&T Group, Headlam Group, Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Sing.Reg), Hunting, Impellam Group, IndigoVision Group, Inmarsat, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore Reg), Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd. (Singapore), LSL Property Services, Mandarin Oriental International (Singapore), Melrose Industries, Shawbrook Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Sportech, Travis PerkinsANNUAL REPORTHeadlam Group, Henderson Group, IndigoVision GroupSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDunelm Group, Premier Energy & Water TrustEGMSArgo Group Ltd., Phoenix Spree Deutschland Limited SHS NPVAGMSAFH Financial Group , Impax Asset Management Group, Jersey Electricity 'A' Shares, JPMorgan Russian Securities, Mercom Oil Sands, Sanderson GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSMcCarthy & StoneFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEGooch & Housego, Zoopla Property Group (WI)FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATECaledonia Investments, CareTech Holding, Downing Four VCT DSO, Downing Four VCT DSO 'A' Shs, Downing Three VCT A Shares, Downing Three VCT C Shares, Downing Two VCT 'A' Shs, Downing Two VCT 'C' Shs, Electronic Data Processing, John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd, Judges Scientific, Lavendon Group, Maintel Holdings, Northern Electricity Prf, Octopus Eclipse VCT 1, Ranger Direct Lending Fund, RSA Insurance Group, Sanderson Group, Scottish American Inv Company, Spirent Communications, St. Modwen Properties, Treatt