Tuesday preview: HSBC, Barclays, Vodafone

9th Nov 2009 15:43

A barrage of big company results are due out Tuesday, with the biggest company by market value, HSBC, the heaviest of the heavyweights declaring figures. Third quarter results from the Asia focused banking giant should provide a stark contrast to the figures last week from part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland. with HSBC's investment banking business expected to have put in a good performance.HSBC's chief executive Michael Geoghegan said back in October that the bank was in no rush to start expanding, and that he thought the recovery in the global economy would be 'W' shaped, rather than 'V' shaped.Sector peer Barclays also issues third quarter figures, and performance is expected to be in line with the trends seen in the first half of the year. As with HSBC, the investment banking arm is likely to prove the jewel in the crown.Telecoms group Vodafone was once the biggest UK company by market capitalisation, and it still weighs in at number three. In its home market it has been struggling to compete with O2, which secured exclusive rights for a limited period to market the phenomenally successful iPhone from Apple. Vodafone finally gets to add the iPhone to its portfolio, but not until after Christmas; in the meantime, rival network Orange will join O2 in carving up the Christmas market for iPhones in the UK.Like for like revenues at Vodafone are expected to show a decline, though the rate of decline is forecast to be slower in the July to September quarter than in preceding quarters. Earnings may still show an improvement, however, as the company has been focusing on cost cutting, and this should underpin the company's progressive dividend policy.Nomura Securities is predicting half-year revenue of £21.8bn, adjusted operating profit of £5.95bn, adjusted earnings per share of 7.75p and an interim dividend of 2.65p.Tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco, best known for its Lambert & Butler cigarettes in the UK, has been trading in line with management expectations in the second half of the year.The integration of Gauloises and Gitanes maker Altadis has been of primary interest to most investment analysts, with the company so far saying it is on course to deliver the expected synergies from the merger.Income investors will be more concerned at the company's intentions regarding its dividend. The interim dividend was increased from 20.9p to 21p, a rise some regarded as stingy, although it was consistent with the company's policy of paying out 50% of retained earnings. Market consensus is for a full year dividend of 82.94p, which would put the shares on a dividend yield of around 4.6%. Broker Charles Stanley is less bullish on the dividend front, predicting a full-year dividend of 72.6p. It expects the company to declare a pre-tax profit of £2,212m, up from £1,607m the year before. Support services firm Babcock is tipped by broker Panmure Gordon to declare half-year profit before tax of £64.9m, up from £57.8m at the interim stage last year.Focus will be on the order book, the broker reckons, though the company's pension position will also be of interest after the company moved earlier this year to put a liabilities cap on one of its defined benefits pension schemes.It's also a busy day on the economic front, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) publishing its retail sales monitor overnight, while the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will give an update on the UK housing market.The BRC's retail sales monitor is expected to show the High Street in reasonable health, with sales in October expected to be 4.7% higher than last October's admittedly depressed levels. With new floor space stripped out, like for like sales are tipped to be 3% higher than in October 2008.Low mortgage payments and subdued inflation are likely to have played their part in prompting shoppers to open their purses, though worries over employment prospects will have stopped them splurging too much.Just as conditions on the High Street appear to be recovering, so the UK housing market is showing some signs of life. RICS is expected to reveal figures that show the speed of recovery in the housing market may be tempering, somewhat. Howard Archer at economic forecasting unit IHS Global Insight predicts that the survey will show buyer enquiries rising for the 12th month in succession, and this is 'expected to feed through into a seventh successive rise in completed sales per surveyor, although these will highly likely still be well below long-term norms.'Market consensus is for a house price balance of +29% in October, up from +22% in September.The Department for Communities and Local Government will release its house price index for September. The August index showed a year on year fall of 5.6% but economists expect the annual fall in September to dip below the 5% level.The September UK Balance of Trade figures will look horrible, but not as horrible as it might have done had sterling's value not headed south. The September deficit is expected to be around £2.3bn. The Goods Trade Balance is expected to improve marginally to a deficit of £6.1bn from £6.2bn in August.INTERIMSBabcock International Group, Kewill, Northern Foods, Printing.com, Vodafone, YellINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)Wholesale Price Index (GER) Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (07:00)Industrial Production (FRA) (07:45)Manufacturing Production (FRA) (07:45)ZEW Survey (EU) (10:00)ZEW Survey (GER) (10:00)Bankruptcies (JPN)Machine Tool Orders (JPN)Machine Orders (JPN)FINALSImperial Tobacco Group, Lowland Investment, AGMSAntisoma, A&J Mucklow, Northamber, Strategic Equity Capital, Trikona Trinity Capital, VietNam Holding Ltd.UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (09:30)BRC Sales Monitor (10:30)Chancellor Pre Budget Speech (09:30)RICS House Price Balance (09:30)DCLG House Prices (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAllianz Dresdner Endowment Policy Trust 2010, Savile GroupQUARTERLY RESULTS888 Holdings, Barclays, European Goldfields Limited, First Quantum Minerals, HSBC, Schroders, Randgold Resources, TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSMarshalls, Morgan Sindall