Week ahead: Glaxo, Vodafone, BoE minutes

17th Jul 2009 10:05

Domino's Pizza has been bucking the trend during the recession, with the company's takeaway pizzas in high demand as people cut back on eating out but still treat themselves as they stay at home. The firm reported a tasty 9.3% rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to March 31. Investors will be keen to see if this strong growth is maintained in Monday's interim results, particularly amid a backdrop of rising unemployment. The US company from which Domino's Pizza UK and Ireland was spun off reports its second quarter results on Wednesday, so it will be interesting to see how the two compare.Second quarter results from the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline are due Wednesday. Charles Stanley is looking for a 14% increase in year on year sales to £6.7bn. "By contrast, operating margins are likely to be adversely impacted by the significant off-patent pressure over 2008 caused by the loss of Lamictal, Imitrex, Wellbutrin XL and Paxil CR as well as the ongoing pressure on former blockbuster diabetes product Avandia," the broker says.Aside from the figures, analysts will be keen to see if the firm has anything to say about the H1N1 Virus outbreak. In a recent note on the company, Panmure Gordon said: "GSK should benefit from the situation medium term, and it is worth noting that GSK received an order from the US government totalling US$71m for its adjuvant technology, which should provide upside to forecasts beyond any specific H1N1 vaccine the company manufactures."On Thursday, outsource giant Capita Group delivers first half results. Charles Stanley does not anticipate any major changes to the solid performance reported in May.Last month Yell Group, owner of the Yellow Pages and an online directories operator, said it has started talks with its banks over a comprehensive refinancing, adding that trading in the second quarter of this year took another lurch downwards. The firm should shed more light as it releases first quarter results Friday.Mobile phone giant Vodafone releases an interim management statement on the same day. According to UBS, the firm is losing market share to rivals. Vodafone is unlikely to say much about this, so investors will be keen to see how the company's 'KPIs' (key performance indicators) are doing.On the economy front, investors will have an eye out for minutes from the latest meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. The Bank kept UK interest rates at a record low and surprised the City by choosing not to expand its £125bn programme of quantitative easing. Borrowing costs were widely tipped to stay at 0.5% for the fourth month, but Monetary Policy Committee members were also expected to vote in favour of pumping another £25bn into the economy. Investors will be looking out for signals as to how the Bank might act in future meetings."It had been widely expected that the committee would extend the central bank's Quantitative Easing programme by a further £25 billion to £150 billion, thereby taking it up to the ceiling currently allowed by the Treasury," Howard Archer chief UK and European Economist of the analyst IHS Global Insight said."However, the MPC failed to do this, leading to speculation that it could be bringing the Quantitative Easing programme to an end. However, we doubt that this is the case, and suspect that the MPC felt that it could afford to "wait and see" for another month before deciding whether or not to extend the Quantitative Easing programme."Monday July 20INTERIMSDomino's Pizza UK & IRL, SThreeAGMSB.P. Marsh & Partners, Hirco, Ovoca GoldFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBATM AdvancedTuesday July 21INTERIMSMicrogenFINALSIG Group HoldingsAGMSAPI Group, Conexion Media Group, Equity Pre-IPO Investments Ltd., Fuller Smith and Turner, Johnson Matthey, Noventa, Sepura, Severn Trent, Speedy HireUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPublic Sector Finances (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish Polythene, Hasgrove, Man Group, TP70 2008 (I) VCT, TP70 2008 (II) VCTWednesday July 22INTERIMSGlaxoSmithKlineINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAberdeen Asian Income Fund Ltd., Asset Man Inv Trust, Charter European Trust, Domino Printing, Sanderson GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBankers Inv Trust, Carador EUR Shares, City of London Inv TrustFINALSEbiquity, ZetarAGMSAccuma, Aqua Bounty Technologies (Reg S), Beowulf Mining, Ciref, Helical Bar, JPMorgan Fleming Japanese Smaller Companies Inv Trust, London & Stamford Property, Mountfield Group, Northern Petroleum, Rensburg AIM VCT, Securities Trust of Scotland, Walker GreenbankUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHome Retail Group, Liontrust Asset Managament, Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Walker Crips Group, Wynnstay PropertiesFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEArtemis Alpha Trust, Business Post Group, Castings, Goldshield Group, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Investment Company (The), Kewill, London Stock Exchange Group, Mulberry Group, Prosperity Minerals Holdings, Welsh Industrial Inv TrustThursday July 23TRADING STATEMENTKingfisher, PlaytechINTERIMSCapitaINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEdinburgh Worldwide Inv TrustAGMSAEA Technology, Alterian, Anglo Asian Mining, Ascent Resources, Biotech Growth Trust, Blavod Extreme Spirits, Caledonia Investments, Carphone Warehouse Group, Chamberlin and Hill, De La Rue, Dee Valley Group, Emerging Metals Limited, Eurasia Mining, Hyder Consulting, Mckay Secs., Melorio, Midas Capital, MobilityOne, Prospect Epicure J-REIT Value Fund, Proton Power Systems, RAB Special Situations Company Ltd., Scottish & Southern Energy, SSL International, Sunkar Resources, Tate & Lyle, TP70 2008 (I) VCT, TP70 2008 (II) VCT, TP70 VCT, Twenty, Vertu MotorsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSInternet Retail Sales (09:30)Retail Sales (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAurora Inv Trust, DCC, Hamworthy, Matrix Income & Growth 2 VCT 'C' Shares, Printing.comFriday July 24INTERIMSYellTRADING UPDATEVodafoneINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Friends Provident GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATELand Securities GroupEGMSMatra PetroleumAGMSAcal, Advanced Computer Software, CDS Oil and Gas, Clarity Commerce Solutions, Enfis, HaiKe Chemical Group, JJB Sports, KCOM Group, Lipoxen, Maypole Group, Panmure Gordon & Co, Pubs 'n' Bars, Red Leopard Holdings, Taihua, Tanjong, Timestrip, UBC Media Group, Watermark GlobalFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberdeen Income & Growth VCT, Brown (N.) Group, Brulines, BSS Group, Edinburgh Inv Trust, Electrocomponents, Experian Group, Fuller Smith and Turner, Helical Bar, Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust, SVM UK Active Fund, Tex Holdings