Wednesday preview: BoE minutes, Balfour Beatty, Lookers

16th Aug 2011 16:26

The release of the minutes from the August meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will see the usual poring over the text for changes in phrasing nuances.As for the voting patterns, the general view is that the vote on interest rate policy will have remained as it was in July, with seven in favour of the status quo, and two in favour of a rise, while the vote on reviving quantitative easing will replicate July's 8-1 vote against. However, Barclays Capital notes that "given the marked reduction in the committee's growth forecasts in last week's Inflation Report there is a possibility that we may see either or both of the MPC members who have been pushing for a rate hike return to the no change camp." International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty issued a brief trading statement in the first week of last month in which it said it has been trading in line with expectations. Performance in Professional Services was good; both UK and US Construction were ahead and Hong Kong was making progress, broker Panmure Gordon noted. The broker thinks the key issues in Wednesday's interim results will be US spending and the outlook for the US economy; UK spending, the public sector slow-down and the private sector recovery; and the integration of recent bolt-on acquisitions.Panmure predicts interim pre-tax profits of £127m, down from £141m. The company has already advised the market that full-year results this time round will be more weighted to the second half than is normally the case. The same broker has also cast its eye over car sales outfit Lookers, having recently upped its recommendation on the shares back to "buy" from "hold"."While consumer confidence nears a 2-year low, we continue to believe that Lookers remains well positioned across all divisions, with the group expected to continue to take market share in new and used cars and go from strength to strength in its Parts business," Panmure Gordon said. "We are forecasting revenues of £1017.9m, which is 3.0% above that delivered last year, with EBITA [earnings before interest, tax and amortisation] of £29.5m vs. £29.8m last year," the broker forecast. "Our headline adjusted PBT [profit before tax] forecast comes out at £22.5m vs. £22.7m last year, which, if achieved would imply adjusted EPS [earnings per share] remains broadly flat YOY [year-on-year] at 3.6p vs. 3.5p delivered in 2010," the broker continued. Panmure Gordon has pencilled in an interim dividend payment of 0.8p, up from 0.6p last year. INTERIMS Acencia Debt Strategies Ltd., Balfour Beatty, Bumi, CLS Holdings, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., Henderson Group, Lookers, Melrose Resources, MirLand Development Corp., Powerflute Oyj (DI), RCG Holdings Ltd., Talvivaara Mining Company INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Anglo American, BlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, British American Tobacco, CSR, Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd. (Singapore), Dragon Oil, Fresnillo, Future, Hammerson, Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Singapore), Informa, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore), Mondi, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Morgan Sindall Group, Pearson, Prudential, Psion, SR Europe Inv Trust, Standard Life, Stanley Gibbons Group, Ultra Electronics Holdings QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Merchants Trust QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE M Winkworth, MedicX Fund Ltd. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) Current Account (EU) (09:00) Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) Producer Price Index (US) (13:30) Q2 Talvivaara Mining Company GMS Mecom Group, SVM UK Active Fund SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Prosperity Minerals Holdings Ltd. AGMS Capital Pub Company, Castings, Mulberry Group, Puma VCT IV UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30) Claimant Count Rate (09:30) Unemployment Rate (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Capital Pub Company, National Grid, Speedy Hire FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Ashtead Group, Carclo, ECO Animal Health Group, Latchways, New Century AIM VCT, NWF Group, Prosperity Minerals Holdings Ltd., PZ Cussons, Solid State INTERNATIONAL EARNINGS Abercrombie & Fitch, Acer, Bang & Olufsen, BJ'S Wholesale Club, Hochtief, Staples, Target, --jh