Tuesday preview: Vodafone, British Land, Yell, Britvic, Dairy Crest

17th May 2010 16:17

The recent strength of the US dollar against sterling has prompted upgrades its earnings forecasts for mobile phone giant Vodafone recently, But brokers are still concerned about mature markets in Europe, falling market share, and the prospects of a US slowdown. There is the prospect of Vodafone getting a dividend from its stake in US mobile phone operator Verizon Wireless from fiscal 2012.A small improvement in underlying trading in the final quarter of 2010 prompted Vodafone recently to lift its guidance for adjusted operating profit to a range of £11.4bn to £11.8bn.Property giant British Land is expected to unveil a 20% rise in the net value of its assets over the past year to 490p a share. Directories group Yell's final results may be nothing to shout about but broker UBS thinks the company should benefit from an increase in small and medium-sized business sentiment in the US, where most of its directories are published. It noted that the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported an improvement in sentiment in April following a run of declines. The data 'are supportive of comments from Yell and peers that sentiment is improving, even if this is not yet being fully shown in revenues,' says UBS.Perhaps unsurprisingly given the tasks facing the new government, trading is expected to be tougher in the UK though.Pepsi distributor Britvic should see a 10.3% rise in interim revenues according to the broker Deutsche Bank. Challenges for the soft drinks company include the bad weather seen in January and the severe economic downturn in Ireland.Attention in milk, butter and cheese group Dairy Crest's final results will be focused on the company's efficiency drive. In an update earlier this month, the dairy firm said year-end debt will be below £350m, £65m lower than at 31 March 2009.Tuesday May 18INTERIMSBritvic, Paragon Group Of CompaniesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)Balance of Trade (EU) (10:00)Building Permits (US) (13:30)Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00)Housing Starts (US) (13:30)Producer Price Index(US) (13:30)RBA Interest Rate Minutes (AUS) (00:00)ZEW Survey (EU) (10:00)ZEW Survey (GER) (10:00)Q4British Land CoGMSDavenham, NetServices, Renewable Power & LightFINALSBritish Land Co, Dairy Crest Group, JZ Capital Partners, Robert Wiseman, Vodafone Group, Yell GroupANNUAL REPORTCinpartIMSSArk Therapeutics, Avis Europe, BATM Advanced, Drax Group, Paddy PowerSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEmerging Metals LimitedAGMSBaronsmead VCT 3, Brammer, Evolution Group, Fidelity European Values, Foresight Technology VCT, INA-Industrija Nafte GDR (Reg S), International Power, ISIS Property Trust, JP Morgan Chase, JZ Capital Partners, Kellan Group, Midas Capital, Mobile Streams, Next, Northbridge Industrial Services, office2office, Paddy Power, Proximagen Neuroscience, Regus, Renewable Power & Light, Resolution, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Scotty Group, Sports Direct International, StatPro Group, Stilo, Unite Group, UTV Media, Westhouse Holdings , Zenergy PowerUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index (09:30)Retail Price Index (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEvolution Group, Impax Environmental Markets, Kazakhmys, KBC Advanced Technologies, Norsk Hydro, St James's PlaceQ1Eurasia Drilling Company GDR (Reg S)