Wednesday preview: Land Securities, Experian, Mothercare

17th Nov 2009 15:13

Following hot on the heels of results from British Land on Tuesday, fellow real estate giant Land Securities issues interim figures on Wednesday.Like British Land it has been disposing of assets, selling its stake in the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham. The firm is still repaying debt but says it has 'financial firepower' to take advantage of market opportunities, so investors will be looking for any statements of intentions in this area. Credit checker Experian has been waiting patiently for the UK and US mortgage lending markets to pick up, but in the meantime it has been boosting its presence in Latin America.Broker Charles Stanley expects the company to declare half-year pre-tax profits of $425m, up from $416m at the interim stage last year, as cost saving benefits filter through to the bottom line.'In the interim statement, we will be expecting to see some confirmation that revenue growth will improve in the second half of the year,' the broker said. Mothercare, the retailer that focuses on the baby and toddlers market, has been transformed from the complacent operator it was in the nineties, and has escaped the recession relatively unscathed.The acquisition of the Early Learning Centre has proved to be a winner, but with that acquisition smoothly integrated, shareholders will be wondering what management has in mind for its next trick.INTERIMS Anglesey Mining, Business Post Group, Experian Group, Land Securities Group, Mothercare, Rensburg Sheppards, UK Mail Group INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE British Polythene, Scisys, Staffline Group, Total INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Cable & Wireless, DCC, Great Portland Estates, HSBC Infrastructure Company Ltd., Printing.com, ProVen Health VCT, Sainsbury (J), Straight, Unilever, Victoria, Vodafone Group QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Canaccord Capital INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)Housing Starts (US) (13:30)Current Account (EC) (09:00)Construction Output (EC) (10:00)Machine Tool Orders (JPN) FINALS United Drug AGMS Close Brothers Group, F&C US Smaller Companies, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Medusa Mining, New Star Inv Trust, Polo Resources, Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust, Skywest Airlines, Trifast, Wolseley TRADING STATEMENTSBovis Homes, Capita Group, Conn Group, Dana Petroleum, Emblaze, Hardy Underwriting, Hill & Smith Holdings, Litho Supplies, Melrose Resources, Raymarine, Real Estate Opportunities, Regus Group, Restaurant Group, Trafficmaster, UTV MediaUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30) CBI Industrial Trends Total Orders (11:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Blue Planet Worldwide Financials Inv Trust, Hargreaves Services FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Euromoney Institutional Investor, Grainger, HSBC Holdings, Jarvis Securities, Keystone Inv Trust, Lancashire Holdings, Lok'n Store Group, Schroder Oriental Income Fund, Standard Life Equity Income Trust, Tristel QUARTERLY RESULTS MirLand Development Corporation, New World Resources