Wednesday preview: IQE, PMI Manufacturing Survey

31st Aug 2010 17:06

It is looking like a relatively quiet day for company results on Wednesday, with only IQE, Johnson Service Group and Hargreaves Lansdowne officially scheduled to announce figures though, as ever, there are bound to be some unscheduled announcements.IQE, the world's largest merchant supplier of compound semiconductor wafers to the global wireless, consumer electronic, light emitting display and solar cell markets, has seen its share price surge by around 40% since an upbeat trading statement in the middle of July.Not much is expected to have changed since then. The group is expected to announce revenue of at least £32.8m for the first half of the year and earnings before interest , tax, depreciation and amortisation in excess of £5.3m. Retained profit should be £2m or more."However other financial items we will be examining that weren't covered in the interim management statement include whether capital expenditure increased during the period, which may be an early indicator that IQE is anticipating reactor capacity constraints," said FinnCap."IQE's highly operationally geared business model means the three key valuation drivers are wireless market expansion, wireless market share gains and application innovation for III-V materials. News on the former two will be dominated by discussions surrounding handset shipments, attachment rates and supply chain rationalisation. The latter will largely depend on positive indications from management surrounding optoelectronic applications," the broker continued. Some big names will be trading in ex-dividend format on Wednesday. The likes of African Barrick, ARM, Capita, Serco and TUI Travel are all likely to prove a drag on the Footsie as they trade without the right to receive the most recently announced dividends.On the economic front the PMI Manufacturing Survey is scheduled for release at 9:30am. Economists are expecting the August reading to ease to 57.0 from July's 57.3.INTERIMSIQE, Johnson Service GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAfrican Barrick Gold , Albion Development VCT 'D' Shares, Anglogold Ashanti, Arbuthnot Banking Group, ARM Holdings, British Smaller Technology Companies VCT 2, Capita Group, CRH, Croda International, Devro, FBD Holdings, Greggs, Hardy Underwriting Bermuda, Henderson Group, Hiscox, Hochschild Mining, International Public Partnerships Ltd., Japan Residential Investment Company, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, John Wood Group, Kingspan Group, Lamprell, Lancashire Holdings, Legal & General Group, Low & Bonar, New Europe Property Investments, Paddy Power, Portmeirion, Promethean World, Robinson, Rotork, Serco Group, Timeweave, TUI TravelQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEJPMorgan Claverhouse Inv TrustQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBank Of America, M&G Equity Inv Trust Income SharesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Manufacturing (FRA) (08:50)PMI Manufacturing (GER) (08:55)PMI Manufacturing (EU) (09:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Auto Sales (US) (15:00)Construction Spending (US) (15:00)ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)GMSFramlington Innovative Growth Trust, JSJS Designs, Maven Income and Growth VCT 3, MeDaVinciFINALSHargreaves LansdownSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish Smaller Companies VCTEGMSMarwyn Materials, Talisman VCTAGMSCreston, Spice, Talisman VCTUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSHalifax House Price Index (09:30)PMI Manufacturing (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEC&C Group, Clyde Process SolutionsFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Smaller Companies VCT, Micro Focus International Plc, NCC Group, Ruffer Investment Company Ltd., VP