Tuesday preview: Severn Trent, BSS, Homeserve

23rd Nov 2009 16:19

With the water regulator OFWAT due to publish its final determination on the 2010 - 2015 regulatory regime for the water companies on Thursday, Severn Trent's results on Tuesday will certainly be topical, though probably unexciting.The utility company said back in July that the decline in consumption across its measured income base had continued at similar levels to 2008/09. It estimated this would impact revenues by around £15-£20m the current financial year. Bad debts, while not of banking crisis proportions, may be a concern for the company, though they were stable at the company year end at 2.3%.Utility companies are typically favoured by income investors and so the dividend will be of keen interest to many. Broker Charles Stanley predicts the interim dividend will be boosted to 26.8p from 26.3p the year before, consistent with the group's policy of increasing it by 3% more than the rate of inflation.Shareholders in plumbing supplies distributor BSS probably started to get nervous last week when plumbers' merchant Wolseley issued a disappointing set of results that prompted a fall of almost 10% in the Wolseley share price.BSS said in September that like for like sales in the 25-week period ended 19 September were down 6.9%, while margins remain under pressure.Nervous shareholders will be looking for comforting noises about the domestic market stabilising, though the commercial and industrial sectors will probably still be under stress.Home maintenance specialist Homeserve should declare interim profits in line with expectations with an improved performance in its core home maintenance business offset by losses in the emergency services unit. The company offloaded part of its emergency services division in September and closed the rest of the division down in October after the loss of a major client.With the most troublesome part of the business disposed of, shareholders will be hoping the company will be able to focus on its overseas markets, where performance has been generally encouraging.On the UK economic front, the British Bankers' Association is forecast to reveal a continuation in the upward trend in mortgage approvals, with the October number expected to be around 43,500, up from 42,008 in September.INTERIMSBSS, Hamworthy, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Homeserve, Iomart, KCOM Group, Severn TrentINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Confidence (US) (15:00)Gross Domestic Product (US) (13:30)Personal Consumption (US) (13:30)Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (US) (15:00)House Price Index (US) (15:00)IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00)IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00)IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00)Gross Domestic Product (GER) (07:00)German Private Consumption (GER) (07:00)German Government Spending (GER) (07:00)German Domestic Demand (GER) (07:00)German Imports (GER) (07:00)German Exports (GER) (07:00)Business Confidence Indicator (FRA) (07:45)Consumer Spending (FRA) (07:50)Industrial New Orders (EC) (10:00)UK ECONOMIC INDICATORSBBA Loans for House Purchases (09:30)FINALS2 ergo Group, Education Development International, Topps TilesAGMSArtisan, Discovery Metals (CDI), PureCircle, Tenon GroupQUARTERLY RESULTSSignet Jewelers