Wednesday preview: Smiths Group, Domino's, Topps Tiles

28th Sep 2010 17:43

Diversified high-tech group Smiths Group is two years into a mammoth restructuring programme and is, by and large, delivering on its stated targets, according to Charles Stanley.The suspicion remains, however (at least among the fee-hungry investment banking community), that the group is merely fattening up its numerous divisions (Smiths Detection, Smiths Medical, John Crane, Smiths Interconnect and Flex-Tek) for the day when the group is broken up.In the meantime Numis Securities is predicting that full-year operating margins will be 17%, getting ever closer to the stated target range of 18-21% which the group hopes to occupy by 2011.Market consensus is for the group to declare profit before tax of £383m, up from £371m a year earlier. Turnover is tipped to rise to £2.71bn from £2.67bn last year.Broker Charles Stanley is more optimistic than most, going for pre-tax profit of £396m on turnover of £2.7bn. It thinks the full year dividend will be left unchanged at 34p, as the board seeks to rebuild earnings cover to 2.5."Net debt of £970m is anticipated at year end (3Q: £991m; FY09: £885m), equivalent to 1.8x EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation]. Cash generation remains strong (H1: 111% cash conversion), supporting longer-term growth opportunities through higher Research & Development (H1: 3.8% of sales), targeted acquisitions and expansion in emerging markets," Charles Stanley said. Shares in pizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza have proved as popular with investors as the company's pizzas have with couch potatoes. The shares are up by two-thirds over the last year as the company has kept up its frenetic growth rate though the recent sale of 2m shares at 470p a time by director Nigel Wray may suggest that even the directors have been surprised by the company's strength throughout the recession. There are still three months of the year left and the company should give guidance in its interim management statement on whether it is on track to hit market expectations of full-year pre-tax profits of £35.72m.Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles has risen almost 10% over the last seven days, suggesting the market is expecting trading to have improved - or, at least, stopped deteriorating so quickly - since its last trading update in mid-July.Back in July the retailer reported that like for like (LFL) sales in the third quarter (13 weeks to July 3) were down 1.2% on a year earlier, a sharp improvement on the 4.3% decline in LFL sales in the first six weeks of the quarter."Our Sept'10 PBT [profit before tax] estimate of £16.0m (vs consensus £15.9m) is based on a 2.0% LFL decline in the second half , with an implied LFL in Q4 of c.-2%," said Singer Capital Markets. "This could prove fractionally overcautious, but we are not expecting profit before tax revisions," the broker added. Mortgage approvals for house purchases in August are expected to have declined from the preceding month, with the August figure seen at 46,000, compared to 48,722 in July.If the economists' forecasts are correct then that would mean August's level would be the lowest since April 2009.INTERIMSAfrican Minerals Limited, Archial Group, Cluff Gold, JSC Polymetal GDR (Reg S), Lees Foods, Michelmersh Brick Holdings, Moss Bros, Motivcom, Northbridge Industrial Services, Panmure Gordon & Co, smartFOCUS, TyraTechINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish American Tobacco, GKN, Glanbia, Greencore GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAmbrian Capital, Billington Holdings, Braime Ord, Centrica, Derwent London, Dignity, Drax Group, Dunedin Income Growth Inv Trust, F&C Asset Management, Fiberweb, Filtrona PLC, Huntsworth, Independent Media Distribution, Inmarsat, International Power, InterQuest, IS Solutions, KBC Advanced Technologies, Lighthouse Group, M. P. Evans Group, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets, Morson Group, Norman Hay, Petropavlovsk, Public Service Properties Investments, PV Crystalox Solar, Quarto Group, TF & JH Braime, The Hotel Corporation, Tullow Oil, Wynnstay GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEAfrica Opportunity Fund Ltd., Mercantile Inv Trust, Torchmark CorpINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSTankan Large Manufacturers Index (JPN)Tankan Large Manufacturers Outlook (JPN)Consumer Confidence (FRA) (07:45)PMI Retail (GER) (08:55)PMI Retail (EU) (09:00)Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00)Consumer Confidence Indicator (EU) (10:00)Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU) (10:00)Service Sector Indicator (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)GMSLeisure & GamingFINALSIndigo Vision, Smiths GroupIMSSDomino's Pizza UK & IRL, MisysSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHargreaves LansdownSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHarvard International, PetminAGMS600 Group, Amur Minerals, Angle, Arcontech Group, Bglobal, Cobra Holdings, Dhir India Investments, GTL Resources, Imaginatik, Marechale Capital , Misys, SocialGO, Strathdon InvestmentsTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBabcock International Group, FirstGroup, Liontrust Asset Management, Topps TilesUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (09:30)Net Lending Secured on Dwellings (09:30)Index of Services (09:30)M4 Money Supply (09:30)M4 Sterling Lending (09:30)PMI Retail (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHargreaves LansdownFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAberdeen Development Capital, Alumasc Group, Ashley House, Cassidy Brothers, Games Workshop Group, Hansard Global, Haynes Publishing Group, HMV Group, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, Oxford Instruments, Penna Consulting, Petmin