Week Ahead: Tesco, Rank, BoE rate decision

2nd Oct 2009 13:18

UK supermarket giant Tesco issues interim results on Tuesday which will be complicated by the inclusion for the first time of Tesco Personal Finance as a consolidated entity.Broker Charles Stanley is forecasting profit before tax of £1,450m on sales of £28,250m, versus comparative figures from a year earlier of £1,453m and £25,638m respectively.It expects like for like sales in the 6 months to 21 August to have grown by 4%, a sub-par performance in comparison with its major sector peers, which Charles Stanley puts down to a slow-down in non-food sales growth and Tesco's aggressive price cuts, which have had a deflationary effect on sales value.On Thursday the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its interest rate decision and, as has been the case for several months, it would be a major surprise if the MPC were to make any decision other than no change.Similarly, the size of the £175bn quantitative easing (QE) programme is expected to remain the same, but there may be a change to the interest rate the Bank of England pays on commercial banks' reserves; Bank of England governor Mervyn King has publicly contemplated cutting the deposit rate as a means of discouraging banks from hoarding cash that he'd rather see pumping around the UK economy. Casinos and bingo outfit Rank makes an interim management statement on Thursday and will be seeking to make it two upbeat trading statements in a row, which would make for a relatively rare pleasurable experience for long suffering shareholders who have seen the shares lose two thirds of their value over the last five years.At the half-year stage the company said underlying pre-tax profits rose to £24.7m in the six months ended 30 June compared with £17.6m a year earlier. Analysts expected a profit of around £20m. Investors will be looking for an update on the company's debt burden. At the end of June it stood at £208.1m, down from £226.5m at the end of 2008.Monday October 05INTERIMSWaterman GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEARM Holdings, Churchill China, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, JPMorgan European Inv Trust Growth Shares, JPMorgan European Inv Trust Income Shares, Novae GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)PMI Services (EU) (09:00)PMI Composite (EU) (09:00)PMI Services (GER) (08:55)PMI Services (FRA) (08:50)Producer Price Index (EU)Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)Unemployment Rate (JPN) (00:30)EGMSCryo-Save GroupAGMSPZ CussonsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Services (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEScott WilsonTuesday October 06INTERIMSTescoINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHiscox, Holders Technology, XP PowerFINALSAnimalcare GroupAGMSEquest Investments Balkans Ltd., Namibian ResourcesFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAirsprung Furniture, Synergy HealthcareUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSIndustrial Production (09:30)Manufacturing Output (09:30)NIESR GDP est. Wednesday October 07INTERIMSWalker GreenbankINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAbbey Protection, Drax Group, Lancashire Holdings, Randall & Quilter Investment, Rathbone BrothersINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAdmiral Group, Adventis Group, AG Barr, Amiad Filtration Systems, Balfour Beatty, Braime Ord, Brammer, Cello Group, Cenkos Securities, Charles Taylor, Dealogic, Dillistone, Fisher (James) & Sons, Forth Ports, Gaming VC Holdings, Hydrogen Group, Judges Scientific, Keller Group, Kingfisher, M. P. Evans Group, Martin Currie Portfolio Trust, Matrix Income & Growth 4 VCT, Motivcom, Nationwide Accident Repair Services, Octopus Apollo VCT 1, Octopus Apollo VCT 2, Octopus Eclipse VCT 2, Octopus Protected VCT 1, office2office, Pinewood-Shepperton, Primary Health Properties, Public Service Properties Investments, S & U, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, StatPro Group, Ukrproduct Group, Weir Group, WPP GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEAfrica Opportunity Fund Ltd.QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEHenderson Global Property Companies Ltd., Investors Capital Trust 'A' Shares, Investors Capital Trust 'B' Shares, Merchants TrustINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSGross Domestic Product (EU) (10:00)Household Consumption (EU) (10:00)Gross Government Spending (EU) (10:00)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)FINALSCoburg Group, Imperial Innovations, SportingbetEGMSHawtinAGMSM&G Equity Inv Trust Capital Shares, M&G Equity Inv Trust Income Shares, M&G Equity Investment Trust UnitsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBRC Shop Price Index (10:30)Nationwide Consumer Confidence (00:01)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEGartmore Fledgling Trust, Pennon Group, PZ CussonsFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAdmiral Group, Advance Developing Markets, Close Brothers Group, Daejan Holdings, Glasgow Income Trust, JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Pacific Horizon Inv Trust, Shires Smaller Companies Trust, System C Healthcare, TR European Growth TrustThursday October 08INTERIMSC&C Group, Ted BakerINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE888 Holdings, Amlin, Antofagasta, Croda International, Eurasian Natural Resources, GlobeOp Financial Services, Molins, Shire Plc, Standard CharteredTRADING STATEMENTRank GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEGlaxoSmithKlineINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)Industrial Production (GER) (12:45)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Wholesale Inventories (US) (15:00)Current Accounts Total (JPN)Bankruptcies (JPN)FINALSSandvine CorporationEGMSSouth African Property OpportunitiesAGMSElectric & General Inv TrustUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Decision (12:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE888 Holdings, Brambles Ld, Mid Wynd International Inv TrustFriday October 09INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEComputacenter, Dunedin Income Growth Inv Trust, Elderstreet VCT, Elementis, Evolution Group, Friends Provident Group, Healthcare Locums, International Public Partnerships Ltd., Lincat Group, Michael Page International, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Nestor Healthcare, Regus, ROK, WSP GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBritish Assets Trust, Quorum Oil and Gas Technology Fund Ltd.INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (US) (13:30)Trade Balance (GER) (07:00)Consumer Prices Index (GER) (07:00)Industrial Production (FRA)Manufacturing Output (FRA)Machine Orders (JPN)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPPI Input Prices (09:30)PPI Output Prices (09:30)PPI Core Output Prices (09:30)Visible Trade Balance (09:30)Non-EU Trade Balance (09:30)FINALSElecoAGMSAngel Mining FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEACM Shipping, Colefax Group, Hampson Industries, Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Kesa Electricals, Phoenix IT Group