Thursday preview: Diageo, Hikma, IMI

26th Aug 2009 14:48

Alcoholic drinks group Diageo's trading update is expected to report an improvement in full-year pre-tax profits on Thursday, with the market consensus hovering around £2.bn, compared to £2.09bn last year. This is despite an anticipated decline in revenue to around £9.25bn from £10.64bn in the year to 30 June 2008.Net sales showed zero growth on an organic basis in the first nine months of the fiscal year as the business felt the effect of the global economic downturn. The management responded by cutting costs and announcing plans to close the Johnnie Walker bottling plant and a distillery in Glasgow. Broker Charles Stanley said 'higher raw material costs will have held back operating margins despite recent declines in commodity prices, as the group is locked in to hedges at higher levels.'Asia-Pacific has been the blot on the company's copybook this year, with operating profit expected to show a small decline, in contrast to double-digit percentage improvements in Europe, North America and the International division - the latter including Africa, where the company's Guinness product is enduringly popular.Jordan-based pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharnaceuticals has been trading close to its 52-week high this month, supported by bid speculation, with US drugs company Pfizer seen as a likely buyer.Broker Panmure Gordon said it will be looking out for the numbers on 'branded revenues, which we forecast to reach US$189m, injectables revenues reaching US$71m and generics revenues reaching US$54m.'For the group as a while Panmure Gordon expects gross profit of $138m on revenues of $310m. Earnings per share (EPS) are forecast to be 19.5 cents. Fellow broker Chalres Stanley is marginally more optimistic, going for earnings before interest and tax of $54m on sales of $320m, giving EPS of 19.6 cents.IMI has had a bad month after agreeing to pay an $18,2m fine in early August over irregular payments by its US subsidiary Control Components, and Thursday's interim results are not expected to provide a cheery end to the month for the group.UBS is predicting a 19% fall in organic revenue and expects the company's fluid power division to be 'only marginally profitable'. INTERIMS888 Holdings, Aer Lingus Group, Bloomsbury Publishing, Cairn Energy, Carillion, Chaucer Holdings, Churchill China, Communisis, Computacenter, Espirito Santo, Filtrona PLC, Henry Boot, Hikma, Hunting, IFG Group, IMI, International Public Partnerships Ltd., Kazakhmys, Lincat Group, LMS Capital, Macfarlane Group, office2office, Peter Hambro Mining, Premier Oil, Rugby Estates Investment Trust, Salamander Energy, STV Group, Styles & Wood, Trafficmaster, UK CoalFINALSDiageoINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEThrogmorton TrustQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEAddax PetroleumAGMSBramdean Alternatives GBP Shares, Bramdean Alternatives USD Shares, Cohort, Guinness Flight VCT, Investment Company (The), Omega Diagnostics GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSTotal Business Investment (09:30)CBI Distributive Trends Survey (11:00)GfK Consumer Confidence Survey (00:01)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSGross Domestic Product (13:30) (US)Personal Consumption (13:30) (US)Core PCE (13:30) (US)Weekly Jobless Claims (13:30) (US)Consumer Prices Index (GER)GfK Consumer Confidence (07:10) (GER)Jobless Rate (JPN)Household Spending (JPN)Consumer Prices Index (JPN)