Wednesday preview: Sainsbury, Balfour Beatty, Microfocus

10th Nov 2009 15:50

Supermarket chain Sainsbury issues half-year results on Wednesday, having already warned that it is unlikely to be able to maintain its impressive sales growth, due to the effects of reduced inflation.Excluding the impact of the fuel and the VAT cut announced last November, like-for-like sales were up by 5.4% in the 16 weeks to 3 October from the same period the previous year.The rise in sales compared favourably with the 2.1% rise in sales rival Tesco announced last month, but was lower than the 7.8% growth Sainsbury's recorded in the preceding quarter.Broker Nomura Securities is predicting earnings before interest and tax of £335m for Britain's number three supermarket chain. 'With promotional participation now up at circa 34%, we see margin pressure continuing for the remainder of the year and remain cautious on the name,' Nomura's Matthew Truman said. Nomura thinks underlying pre-tax profit will be in the region of £296m.The company has been the subject of renewed speculation about the intentions of major shareholder, the Qatar Investment Authority, which has previously expressed an interest in a full take-over. The Qatari fund recently banked a £613m profit on the sale of Barclays warrants, giving it additional firepower to revive its bid interest in Sainsbury should it choose to do so.Balfour Beatty, which is involved in construction and engineering projects largely for the public sector, is not expected to reveal much new information in its interim management statement. Investors will be keen to see what it has to say about public sector spending prospects though, given the need to balance the books.Software firm Microfocus is expected to report trading in line with expectations, with margins remaining firm and the balance sheet strong.Wednesday November 11INTERIMSGreat Portland Estates, Sainsbury (J), Scottish & Southern EnergyINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECarillion, CentricaINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE3i Infrastructure, Aberdeen Income & Growth VCT, Anglo Pacific, Bunzl, Charles Stanley, Chloride Group, Cobham, Ferrexpo, Home Retail Group, JZ Capital Partners, Marks & Spencer Group, Noble AIM VCT, Pace, Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust, Wynnstay PropertiesQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBP, ING UK Real Estate Income Trust Ltd., Prodesse Investment Ltd.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCorporate Goods Price Index (JPN) (23:50)FINALSFennerAGMSAllied Gold, Cadogan Petroleum, Crown Place VCT, Eurovestech, HaysTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSMicro Focus, ZetarUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Inflation Report (09:30)Claimant Count Rate (09:30)Unemployment Rate (09:30)Average Earnings (09:30)FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAcorn Income Fund Ltd., Air Partner, Asian Citrus, CPL Resources, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Downing Protected VCT I, Edge Performance VCT 'D' Shares, Edinburgh Dragon Trust, F&C Commercial Property Trust, JPMorgan Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Jupiter Dividend & Growth Trust, Stavert Zigomala, Swallowfield, World Careers NetworkQUARTERLY RESULTSSmurfit Kappa Group