Tuesday preview: Interim profits to rise at Greene King

3rd Dec 2012 16:30

First-half results from pubs giant Greene King will be released on Tuesday morning with the market expecting a slight improvement in profits.The company had reported a strong start to the year in September with like-for-like (LFL) sales up 5.1% in the first 18 weeks despite the poor summer weather.Analysts at Panmure Gordon are forecasting a first-half profit before tax of £82.4m (earnings per share of 28.8p), up 6.7% year-on-year.In a research report on Friday, the broker said: "We expect LFL sales growth in managed pubs to have moderated over the rest of H1 reflecting the tougher comps, particularly in October. "We expect the current trading update will highlight a robust performance in November and the group well positioned to capitalise on the Christmas trading period."INTERIMS Anite, Greene King, May Gurney Integrated Services, Northgate INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Auto Sales (US) (15:00) Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00) GMS Cenkos Securities FINALS Character Group, Datong, ITE Group, TUI Travel AGMS AI Claims Solutions, Northamber TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS Dolphin Capital Investors Ltd UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BRC Sales Monitor (00:01) PMI Construction (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, NWF Group BC