Friday preview: Berkeley, Keller

24th Jun 2010 17:06

London and south-east England focused housebuilder Berkeley publishes full year results for the year to end-April, but analysts will be more interested in how trading has been going since the end of the reporting period, as that covers the time of the general election and the first few weeks of the coalition government.The government has been making noises about the need for everyone to make sacrifices, and judging by the trading statement issued last week by fellow housebuilder Bellway, this has been having a small dampening effect on the number of site visits and new house sales. The market is expecting Berkeley to announce pre-tax profits in the region of £104.4m on sales of £587m. Ground engineering specialist Keller Group issues a pre-close statement having issued a profit warning last month."A continued deterioration in the US construction market has led to a further reduction in volumes in our US businesses. More importantly, the resulting more intense competitive environment has led to increased pressure on margins, which is likely to continue for the remainder of 2010," Keller said. The company makes around two-fifths of its revenue in the USA so shareholders will be crossing their fingers and hoping that the market has not deteriorated further. Friday June 25INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEZytronicINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSGDP (Final) (US) (13:30)Personal Consumption (US) (13:30)U. of Michigan Confidence (US) (15:00)GDP (FRA) (07:45)Consumer Prices Index (JPN) GMSPolski Koncern Naftowy Orlen GDR (Reg S), Share PlcFINALSBerkeley Group Holdings ANNUAL REPORTAlpha Tiger Property TrustSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAshmore Global Opportunities EUR Shares, Ashmore Global Opportunities GBP Shares, Ashmore Global Opportunities USD SharesEGMSChina Medical System HoldingsAGMSAlbion Development VCT, Albion Development VCT 'D' Shares, Biofutures International, Canaccord Financial Inc., Clinical Computing, EMIS, Fubon Financial Holdings GDR (Reg S), Japan Leisure Hotels, Martin Currie Pacific Trust, Oao Gaz ADS, OAO Tatneft GDR (Reg S), OJSC Pharmstandard GDR (Reg S), Serica Energy, Share Plc, UK Coal, Viridas, X5 Retail Group GDR (Reg S)TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSInvista Real Estate Investment Management Holdings, Keller GroupFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDignity, Gresham House, Healthcare Locums, K3 Business Technology Group, Lees Foods, M. P. Evans Group, Maven Income and Growth VCT 2 , Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Old Mutual, Panther Securities, Spectris, Witan Pacific Inv Trust, Xaar