LONDON-There’s no shortage of big companies reporting in the second week of November, with HSBC and Lloyds keeping the banking results season ticking over, & Legal & General continuing the spate of insurers reporting. On top of that, the Bank of England will be reporting on Thursday on how the resumption of the quantitative easing programme is progressing.
Temporary chief executive Tim Tookey will no doubt be handling conference call duties on Tuesday after the release of third quarter figures from part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking. Tookey, the group’s chief financial officer, is standing in for António Horta-Osório, while his Portuguese boss recovers from exhaustion.
Credit Suisse thinks the bank will report total income, net of insurance claims, of £4,710m, down 9.6% from the previous quarter, with costs of £2,513m, down 2.7% from the second quarter (Q2). Credit Suisse is projecting a cost:income ratio of 53.3%.
“Provisions are likely to remain elevated, although improving somewhat from Q2 at £2,390mn. Overall we expect a net attributable loss of £90mn for the period,” Credit Suisse said.
Nomura Securities, meanwhile, says it is more bearish than the consensus on impairments for the full-year; it predicts full-year impairments of £10.8bn, versus the market consensus of £10bn, while for the third quarter alone it has pencilled in a figure of £2.7bn.
The broker thinks revenue and margin outlook will be key features to look out for. Management has indicated it expects 2011 margin of 205 basis points (i.e. 2.05 percentage points), “but given the worsening outlook we assume margins of 195bps [basis points] for Q3 and 199bps for 2012.”
The Japanese broker is a bit more pessimistic than its Swiss counterpart on costs, as well, predicting Lloyds’ third quarter costs will be around £2.7bn, similar to the run-rate in the first half of the year. “We see pressure on core operations from the worsening revenue outlook. We assume non-core losses to be similar to the H1 [first half] run rate at £ 1.8bn,” Nomura concluded.
Tuesday also sees retail bellweather Marks & Spencer reporting, and broker Charles Stanley is expecting a “soft” set of results. The broker reckons half-year sales will be £4,650m, up from £4,570m at the interim stage last year. Profit before tax, however, is tipped to dip to £315m from £349m last year, while earnings per share could slide to 15.1p from 16.6p. The interim dividend is seen remaining at 6.2p.
“We expect sales momentum to have slowed in Q2 [second quarter] as comparatives became tougher and pressure on consumers’ disposable incomes increased. For H1 [first half] as a whole we forecast like-for-like sales to be broadly flat, with General Merchandise down by 1% and Food up by 2%,” predicts Charles Stanley analyst, Sam Hart.
“Chief Executive, Marc Bolland, is expected to provide an update on the three year strategic plan first outlined with interim results last year. Key areas of focus include improving the in-store environment; strengthening both the core-M&S and sub-brands in clothing; more fully exploiting the opportunity in homewares; developing the on-line offer; expanding International; and completing modernisation of the supply chain and IT systems,” Hart speculated.
Monday November 07
INTERIMS
Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd. GDR, Printing.com
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
CQS Rig Finance Fund Ltd., Hotel Corp., Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
PMI Construction (GER) (08:55)
Sentix Investor Confidence (EU) (09:30)
Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)
Industrial Production (GER) (11:00)
Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)
GMS
1Spatial Holdings, Avisen, BowLeven, Porta Communications
FINALS
Egdon Resources
IMSS
Telecity Group, Xchanging
EGMS
Public Power GDR SA (Reg S)
AGMS
Ludgate Environmental Fund Ltd., TR European Growth Trust
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rentokil Initial
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Animalcare Group, Begbies Traynor Group, JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Photo-Me International, Stavert Zigomala
Tuesday November 08
INTERIMS
Babcock International Group, Carphone Warehouse Group, DCC, Eckoh, Kewill, Marks & Spencer Group, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. GDR (Reg S), Umeco, Vodafone Group, Yell Group
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Ashley (Laura) Holding
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
IBM Corp.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Current Account (JPN)
Trade Balance (JPN)
Balance of Trade (GER) (07:00)
Current Account (GER) (07:00)
Balance of Trade (FRA) (07:00)
NFIB Small Business Optimism (US) (12:30)
Q2
Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. GDR (Reg S)
Q3
Coca-Cola HBC S.A., First Quantum Minerals Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group, Komercni Banka GDR (Level 1)
GMS
Charter European Trust, Trans-Siberian Gold
FINALS
Associated British Foods
IMSS
Bovis Homes Group, Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, Capital & Counties Properties , G4S, Hammerson, Hardy Oil & Gas, Lloyds Banking Group, Prudential, Resolution Ltd., SEGRO
AGMS
A&J Mucklow Group, Asian Citrus Holding, Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di), Strategic Equity Capital
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRC Sales Monitor (00:01)
RICS House Price Balance (00:01)
Industrial Production (09:30)
Manufacturing Production (09:30)
Wednesday November 09
INTERIMS
FirstGroup, Flybe Group, Great Portland Estates, Sainsbury (J), SSE
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Carillion
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Aga Rangemaster Group, Anglo Pacific Group, Bunzl, Cable & Wireless Communications, First Derivatives, Home Retail Group, Invensys, Lombard Risk Management, Maven Income & Growth VCT, Pace, Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust, Stobart Group Ltd.
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Barclays, F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd., Picton Property Income Ltd
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bankruptcies (JPN)
Machine Orders (JPN)
Bank of France Business Sentiment (FRA) (07:30)
Wholesale Price Index (GER)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
Wholesales Inventories (US) (15:00)
Q3
Anglogold Ashanti Ltd., Shin Kong Financial Holdings Co Ltd. GDR (Reg S), Smurfit Kappa Group, Talvivaara Mining Company
FINALS
Fenner
IMSS
Admiral Group, Ark Therapeutics Group, Cape, HSBC Holdings, Legal & General Group, SIG, Tullow Oil
SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Asian Citrus Holding, Blackstar Group SE, Microgen
EGMS
Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development, Public Service Properties Inves (DI)tments Ltd.
AGMS
Crown Place VCT, Hays, Oilex Ltd., Quayle Munro Holdings
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Playtech Ltd., Safestore Holdings, Supergroup
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRC Shop Price Index (00:01)
Balance of Trade (09:30)
UK Trade (09:30)
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Asian Citrus Holding, Centaur Media, Craneware, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Downing Absolute Income VCT 1, Edinburgh Dragon Trust, Genus, Manchester & London Inv Trust, Pan African Resources, Swallowfield, World Careers Network
Thursday November 10
INTERIMS
3i Group, Canaccord Financial Inc., Dairy Crest Group, Experian, Halfords Group, Himachal GDR (144a), In-Deed Online, Land Securities Group, Synergy Health, Vedanta Resources, Wincanton
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
British American Inv Trust, Yule Catto & Co
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Confidence (JPN)
Machine Tool Orders (JPN)
CGPI (JPN)
Consumer Price Index (FRA) (06:30)
Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)
Industrial Production (FRA) (07:45)
Manufacturing Output (FRA) (07:45)
ECB Report (EU) (09:00)
Balance of Trade (US) (13:30)
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
Import and Export Price Indexes (US) (13:30)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)
Treasury Budget Statement (US) (19:00)
Q2
Canaccord Financial Inc.
Q3
Aegon NV, Cryptologic Ltd., European Goldfields Ltd., Hellenic Telecom Industries SA ADS, Novae Group, Ruukki Group (DI), Zhejiang Expressway Co ‘H’ Shares
GMS
Waterman Group
FINALS
Euromoney Institutional Investor
ANNUAL REPORT
Associated British Foods
IMSS
BBA Aviation, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., Hansard Global, Howden Joinery Group, IMI, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets, Restaurant Group, Schroders, Schroders (Non-Voting), Sportech, Trinity Mirror
EGMS
Mitie Group
AGMS
Craneware, Genus, JPMorgan Global Emerging Income Trust, Medusa Mining Ltd. (DI), Stellar Diamonds, Synairgen, Thorpe (F.W.)
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BoE Interest Rate Decision (12:00)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Quayle Munro Holdings
Friday November 11
INTERIMS
Hornby
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
All Leisure Group, Cenkos Securities, Cobham, Corin Group, Huntsworth, Johnson Service Group, Just Car Clinics Group, Kerry Group ‘A’ Shares, Kingfisher, Maven Income & Growth 2 VCT, Petropavlovsk, Rightmove, S & U, Spectris, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Staffline Group, Unite Group, Walker Greenbank
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
British Land Co, Merchants Trust
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Lilly (Eli) & Co
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
U. of Michigan Confidence (Prelim) (US) (15:00)
Q3
Grupo Clarin SA GDR (Reg S), Telefonica SA
FINALS
Carr’s Milling Industries
IMSS
Rolls-Royce Group, Spectris
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
TR European Growth Trust
AGMS
Galliford Try, GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd.
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Producer Price Index (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Daejan Holdings, Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, TR European Growth Trust
