Week Ahead: Lookers, Pendragon, BoE minutes

14th Aug 2009 12:23

The results season is showing signs of tailing off, with a distinct lack of heavy hitters due to declare figures next week.Car dealers will be in focus with both Lookers and Pendragon announcing results.Lookers declares interim results on the 19th and broker Panmure Gordon is expecting a strong set of figures, with adjusted profit before tax predicted to rise to £15.9m from £15.3m in the first half of last year, despite a projected 8% decline in revenue to £956.1m."In terms of cash generation/balance sheet, we would expect debt reduction to be on track to hit our £60.2m post placing net debt estimate, implying gearing levels of 52% and a healthy net debt/EBITDA of 1.3x. As long as its key covenant of net debt/EBITDA is kept below 2x, Lookers should benefit from annualised interest charge savings of £7m as indicating in its fund raising documents," the broker stated.Broker KBC Peel Hunt is going for pre-tax profit of £16.1m, equating to earnings per share of 6.2p. The broker believes that the strength of current trading will have more influence on broker estimates than the first half numbers.'Our current forecast assumptions for H2 [the second half] had prudently assumed the strong demand seen in H1 would slow down over H2 as used car prices have recovered materially. However, other industry updates and anecdotal evidence suggests underlying demand remains strong, providing the basis for upgrades. Similarly, UK new car registrations for July have shown growth for the first time in 15 months, reflecting the scrappage scheme, suggesting our double-digit as sales decline assumption in H2 also seems too prudent,' KBC said, before conceding its full-year profit before tax forecast of £17m may be too conservative. Sector peer Pendragon releases is interim results the day before Lookers, on Tuesday. As with Lookers, Panmure Gordon is expecting revenue to decline, forecasting a 12% slide to £2.2bn from £2.5bn last year. Underlying earnings before interest and tax is forecast to tumble from £41.8m to £31m while adjusted pre-tax profit is tipped to plunge to £5m from £13.4m a year earlier.Economists will be looking forward to the release of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee's meeting minutes to see the reasoning behind the central bank's surprise decision to extend its quantitative easing programme by £50bn earlier this month.Monday August 17INTERIMSMichael Page InternationalEGMSEngel East Europe N.V.FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEEmpresaria Group, London Stock Exchange Group, Mountview EstateUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSRightmove House Prices (00:01)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSEmpire State Manufacturing Survey (US) (13:30)Trade Balance (EU) (10:00)Gross Domestic Product (JPN)Tuesday August 18INTERIMSAmino Technologies, London Capital Group, Tribal GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Prices Index (CPI) (09:30)Core CPI (09:30)Retail Prices Index (RPI) (09:30)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBuilding Permits (US) (13:30)Housing Starts (US) (13:30)Initial Jobless Claims (US)Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)ZEW Survey Economic Sentiment (GER) (10:00)ZEW Current Situation (GER) (10:00)ZEW Survey Economic Sentiment (EU) (10:00)Nationwide Department Store Sales (JPN)AGMSBedford Row VCT, Bedford Row VCT 'C' Shares, Castings, Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities GBP Shares, Serabi MiningFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEInvestecQUARTERLY RESULTSBritish Land CoWednesday August 19INTERIMSJohn Menzies, Lookers, MirLand Development Corporation, New World ResourcesINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEImperial Tobacco GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAnglogold Ashanti, Baronsmead VCT 3, Baronsmead VCT 4, Brewin Dolphin, British American Tobacco, China Medical System Holdings, Hammerson, Pearson, Prudential, Psion, Stanley Gibbons, Ultra Electronics HoldingsQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEMerchants TrustQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEProdesse Investment Ltd., Thomson ReutersINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSProducer Prices (GER) (07:00)Current Account (EU) (09:00)Construction Output (EU) (10:00)Machine Tool Orders (JPN) FINALSNew World ResourcesAGMSAccsys TechnologiesUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30)CBI Industrial Trends Survey (11:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEGoldshield Group, Halma, National GridFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAshley House, Ashtead Group, Cyril Sweett, Dart Group, First Property Group, Gartmore Irish Growth, Latchways, NWF Group, PHSC, PZ Cussons, SABMiller, Scottish & Southern EnergyThursday August 20INTERIMS1st Dental Laboratories, Cineworld Group, IP Group, ProStrakan, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, TT Electronics, Wellstream HoldingsQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATECaterpillarINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSInitial Jobless Claims (US) (15:00)Leading Indicators (US) (15:00)Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00)Convenience Store Sales (JPN)FINALSVantisAGMSAlbany Inv Trust, City of London PR, Latham (James), Summit CorporationUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPublic Sector Finances (09:30)Retail Sales (09:30)Money Supply (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAshley (Laura) HoldingFriday August 21INTERIMSRightmoveINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberforth Geared Capital & Income Trust Income Shares, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust, Domino Printing, Heavitree, Sanderson GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEEquity Partnership Income SharesAGMSCarador EUR Shares, Prosperity Minerals Holdings