Thursday preview; Jackson Hole, lending data, Hays

29th Aug 2012 17:11

The Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole held by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City kicks off on Thursday, although it won't be until Friday that the star turn, Ben Bernanke, makes his speech.The Bank of England publishes money and credit data for July. Barclays Capital expects net mortgage lending to increase to £0.1bn (consensus £0.5bn) from -£0.4bn in June and mortgage approvals to increase to 47.0k (consensus 47.0k) from 44.2k, reflecting a partial unwinding of the dip seen in June. Credit Suisse notes, meanwhile, that as these are July numbers it is "therefore probably too early to capture any Funding for Lending Scheme effects" on the money and lending data. "As such, we expect the data to remain at relatively subdued levels," the Swiss bank said.Recruiters have mostly been having a tough time of it and Hays is no exception, although the group said back in April it had made an encouraging start to the year. That upbeat assessment had changed, however, by July when the group grumbled about a "challenging environment", with the slow-down in the financial services sector hitting hard. The market is expecting the group to report a profit before tax of £120.3m for the year to the end of June on revenue of £3,642m. Earnings per share are seen rising to 5.47p from 5.19p. The group recently rebased - weasel words to describe a cut - its dividend policy to pay-outs between one-third and one-half of earnings per share, so the market has pencilled in a full-year dividend of 2.53p, down from 5.80p last year, which means a final dividend for the year of 1.70p. Gaming software specialist Playtech is set to see a maiden first half contribution from PTTS, the company it acquired in July 2011. Peel Hunt is predicting adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around €88m, including the contribution from William Hill Online.INTERIMSAdmiral Group, APR, Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure Sicav S.A.(DI), Cape, Evraz, Hardy Oil & Gas, Hunting, Integra Group GDR (Reg S), International Public Partnerships Ltd., Kentz Corporation Ltd., Lombard Medical Technologies, Macfarlane Group, Melrose, Perform, Playtech Ltd., Public Power GDR SA (Reg S), Salamander Energy, Unite Group, Vislink, WPPINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEOctopus Second AIM VCTINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU) (10:00)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)Personal Income (US) (13:30)Personal Spending (US) (13:30)PMI Retail (EU) (09:00)PMI Retail (GER) (08:55)Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)FINALSHaysAGMSConsort Medical, Iomart Group, New Century AIM VCTUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSMortgage Approvals (09:30)JH