Thursday preview: Legal & General, Premier Farnell, SIG, US inflation

16th Mar 2011 15:22

On Thursday, insurance heavyweight Legal & General issues full-year figures. In a trading update released in November the company said it was on track to beat its £600m cash generation target, having generated net cash of £526m in the first nine months of 2010. It also hinted that the dividend might see a welcome bounce. "The UK savings business was the key driver of sales growth with sales up 43% in the first nine months to £961m and the third quarter (Q3) experienced sales up 56% year on year. There was a 6% decline in annuity and protection sales in the first nine months of 2010 to £275m but there was a better performance in Q3 with sales up 20%, with stronger individual annuities sales," Charles Stanley notes.The broker forecasts earnings per share of 12.8p, down from 16.2p the year before, and a dividend of 4.4p, up from 3.8p in 2009.Electronic and industrial components supplier Premier Farnell is trading at twice the level it was three years ago after it emerged from the recession at a cracking pace.Panmure Gordon warns, however, that the days of easy year-ago comparatives are over, though the "group continues to benefit from health sales momentum."Management changes might be a concern to some, the broker reckons. Finance director Mark Whiteling is to leave his post in August to try his luck in the private equity sector while chairman Sir Peter Gershon will give up his seat on the board in June.The company's internet offering has proved a success and it will be interesting to see whether the company can keep up its online momentum.Market expectations are for profit before tax of £93.5m on sales of £982m. Earnings per share are tipped to rise to 18.13p from 10.60p the year before and the full year dividend is expected to be upped to around 10.26p from 9.40p in 2009. Panmure Gordon thinks net debt will fall to £250m from £266m at the end of September.Panmure Gordon has also been casting its eye over insulation and construction products group SIG. Winter weather was not kind to the group but the company said it still expected to hit market expectations for the full year, with profit before tax of about £61.3m, though sales of around £2.69bn will be about 2% lower than £2.74bn the previous year."Residential markets have helped the group, while non-residential construction is expected to level out in the current year. SIG remains well positioned to benefit from structural growth in low carbon and energy efficiency markets," Panmure Gordon reckons.It's a quiet day on the economic news front, at least in the UK. In the US, traders will be keeping an eye on the inflation figure. The US consumer prices index is expected to show a 0.4% increase in February, the same as in January.INTERIMSCVS GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConstruction Output (EU) (10:00)Consumer Price Index (US) (12:30)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (12:30)Industrial Production (US) (13:15)Leading Indicators (US) (14:00)Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (14:00)Q4Premier FarnellFINALSAegis Group, Arbuthnot Banking Group, Legal & General Group, Panmure Gordon & Co, Premier Farnell, ProStrakan Group, SIG, SpaceandPeople, TT ElectronicsANNUAL REPORTBerendsenEGMSAlpha Tiger Property Trust Ltd., Banco de Chile ADR, Epicure Qatar Equity Opportunities, Oxford Catalysts GroupAGMSBanco de Chile ADR, Brunner Inv Trust, Henderson Opportunities Trust, Image Scan HoldingsTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSInvestecFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATESinclair (William) Holdings