Week Ahead: Diploma, Compass, central bank minutes

18th Nov 2011 10:33

Next week's batch of expected trading updates is light on FTSE 100 heavyweights and heavy on the second-liners. A number of utilities are due to declare, while there is also a boozy feel to the week with pub groups Enterprise Inns and Mitchells & Butlers going head to head on Tuesday, while London-focused pubs owners Young's and Fuller's update on Thursday and Friday, respectively.Monday kicks off with Diploma, the seals, fasteners and instrumentation provider, announcing its full-year figures. Market consensus is for a sharp increase in pre-tax profit to £44.1m, up from £26.7m a year ago, on turnover of £230m, up from £183.5m last year.Altium Securities thinks there is a possibility that the shares could get a boost if the outlook statement follows the lead set by Caterpillar and Fenner in recent weeks. "US construction exposure is a potential concern, although recent news flow from Caterpillar and Fenner has been positive. In addition, only 23% of group sales come from America, of which approximately 50% is related to construction. In other words, only c.11.5% of group sales are exposed to the US construction market. Management has stated that this is an area where costs and working capital exposure can be swiftly cut if market conditions worsen," the broker notes.Contract caterer Compass brings out full-year figures on Wednesday, with the market expecting profits before tax to burst through the billion pounds barrier. Market consensus is for pre-tax profit of £1.01bn on turnover of £15.6bn. Earnings per share are set to rise to 38.7p from 35.7p last year, while the full-year dividend is tipped to be 19.37p, although broker Charles Stanley goes for a nice round number of 19p with its dividend forecast, which would still be a decent improvement on last year's 17.5p pay-out.The broker is looking for the company to achieve organic revenue growth of 5% for the whole year, which would mean a flying finish to the year, with more than 4% organic revenue growth in the final quarter. "This year has seen more activity in terms of acquisitions and constant currency revenue growth of about 9% is expected," Charles Stanley analyst Tony Shepard notes. "After absorbing the tragic events in Japan and the impact of acquisitions, the operating margin will be flat. In the first half of the year, the operating margin reached 7.2% and possibly there is another 150 basis points of underlying improvement to come over the medium term," Shepard suggests. "Cash flow conversion has continued to be strong. After £425m spent on acquisitions, net debt at September 2011 is expected to be about £800m compared to £620m a year ago," he added.As to the economic calendar, the Bank of England releases the minutes on Wednesday from November's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, while the day before sees the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the US central bank's counterpart, the Federal Open Market Committee.Tuesday also sees US gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter released. Economists are expecting the year-on-year gain to remain at the 2.5% level seen in the preceding quarter.Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the US, but it is a busy day for economic indicators in the UK and Germany; both countries issue GDP and trade data.Monday November 21INTERIMSInvista Foundation Property Trust Ltd., Mitie GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCurrent Account (EU) (09:00)GMSHydroDec Group, Oxford Pharmascience Group , WincantonFINALSDiplomaEGMSThames River Multi Hedge PCC Ltd. Realisation SharesAGMSOrigin Enterprises, Worldspreads GroupFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEJPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv TrustTuesday November 22INTERIMSBig Yellow Group, CML Microsystems, Digital Barriers, FFastFill, Halma, Hamworthy, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Homeserve, Intermediate Capital Group, KCOM Group, Telecom Plus, VictoriaINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECapital Shopping Centres Group, Fujitsu Ltd.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Confidence Indicator (EU) (10:00)GDP (Preliminary) (US) (13:30)Q2Big Yellow GroupQ3AFI Development, JSC Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan GDR (Reg S), Signet Jewelers Ltd.GMSCadogan PetroleumFINALSEnterprise Inns, Mitchells & Butlers, Optos, Paragon Group Of Companies, Renew HoldingsEGMSPlaza Centers NVAGMSDiscovery Metals Ltd. (CDI), Eurovestech, Fluormin, Greatland Gold, Pantheon International Participations, Smiths GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPublic Sector Finances (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEClose Brothers GroupWednesday November 23INTERIMSAssura Group Ltd., Hyder Consulting, Mckay Securities, QinetiQ Group, United Utilities GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAseana Properties Ltd., Braemar Shipping Services, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Charles Stanley Group, Cranswick, Hill & Smith Holdings, Man Group, Metric Property Investments , Morgan Crucible Co, Next, TalkTalk Telecom Group , UBC Media Group, Walker Crips GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATECarnivalINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)Industrial New Orders (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)Personal Income (US) (13:30)Personal Spending (US) (13:30)U. of Michigan Confidence (Final) (US) (15:00)GMSNorthern 2 VCTFINALSAvon Rubber, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd. GDR (Reg S), Compass GroupSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATENarborough PlantationsEGMSEtalon Group Ltd GDR (Reg S)AGMSCAP-XX Ltd., Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd., Coal of Africa Ltd., Fidelity Asian Values, International Ferro Metals Group, K3 Business Technology Group, Manchester & London Inv Trust, Sabien Technology Group, Thor MiningUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEdge Performance VCT 'C' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'D' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'E' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'F' Shares, JD WetherspoonFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEDunelm Group, GETECH Group, Henderson Fledgling Trust , Keystone Inv Trust, Northern Venture Trust, Standard Life Equity Income Trust, Ultimate Finance Group, United DrugThursday November 24INTERIMSDixons Retail , Helical Bar, Latham (James), PayPoint, Pennon Group, Severn Trent, Young & Co's Brewery 'A' SharesINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECollins Stewart Hawkpoint, Hansteen HoldingsINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSIFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00)IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00)IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00)Q3Antofagasta, Frutarom Indstries Ltd.GDR (Reg S), London MiningFINALSFuture, Grainger, Phytopharm, Thomas Cook GroupEGMSEconomic Lifestyle Property Inv Co Ltd., JSC Acron GDR (Reg S)AGMSeServGlobal Ltd., Hangar 8, Impax Asian Environmental Markets, Leyshon Resources Ltd., Netcall, Ruffer Investment Company Ltd., Wildhorse Energy Ltd. (DI)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCBI Distributive Trends Surveys (11:00)CBI Industrial Trends Surveys (11:00)GDP (output, income & expenditure) (09:30)M4 Money Supply (estimate) (09:30)M4 Sterling Lending (estimate) (09:30)Trends in Lending (09:30)Friday November 25INTERIMSFuller Smith & Turner, Omega Diagnostics GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBooker Group, Bovis Homes Group, Charles Taylor Consulting, Downing Planned Exit VCT 2 'C' Shares, Downing Planned Exit VCT 2 'D' Shares , Downing Planned Exit VCT 3 'C' Shares, Downing Planned Exit VCT 3 'D' Shares , Harvey Nash Group, John Menzies, JZ Capital Partners Ltd., Octopus AIM VCT, Prime People, RSA Insurance Group, Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust, Tandem Group, Ted BakerQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEF&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd., Picton Property Income LtdQ3Public Power GDR SA (Reg S)GMSComs, F&C Managed Portfolio Trust Growth Shares, F&C Managed Portfolio Trust Income SharesSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEJZ Capital Partners Ltd.EGMSAir China Ltd.AGMSAquarius Platinum Ltd., Ferrum Crescent Ltd Ord NPV (DI), Fusion IP, Hargreaves Lansdown, Nyota Minerals Ltd., Petmin Ltd. (DI)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAbcam, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Genus, JPMorgan Overseas Inv Trust, London Finance & Investment Group, Pan African Resources, Ricardo, Smiths Group, Swallowfield, Thorntons--jh