Wednesday Preview: Greggs, Marston's, Hikma

15th Mar 2011 17:19

Results from Greggs will help give us a clearer picture of the state of the British High Street. Shore Capital is predicting a 7% rise in pre-tax profits from the baked snacks retailer, though the broker is less cheery over trading so far this year.One interesting aspect to look out for is what Greggs has to say about its "concept" stores' performance. These are the same as their standard stores, but with more space, seating areas and jazzed-up interior design.The pub group Marston's should post like-for-like sales in line with its January trading statement when it updates on trading up to 12 March, according to the broker Peel Hunt. In the 16 weeks to 22 January the Pitcher & Piano owner's like-for-likes were up 2.1% from the same period a year ago.Hikma has strong exposure to both North Africa and the Middle East and the recent turmoil in the region is likely to feature in the pharmaceutical group's full year results."We strongly suspect that these results will be overshadowed by what the company has to say regarding unrest in its Middle East North Africa heartland," says Charles Stanley. "Investors should note that Hikma operates in 17 MENA markets and that the region contributes an estimated 62% of 2010 sales."The broker estimates that the disruption so far affects about 10% of Hikma's sales.INTERIMSBrooks Macdonald GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAbcam, Galliford Try, Group NBT, Hargreaves Lansdown, IndigoVision Group, Interior Services Group, Quayle Munro HoldingsQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEUnileverINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSTertiary Industry Index (JPN)New Car Registrations (EU) (10:00)Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (11:00)Balance of Payments (US) (12:30)Building Permits (US) (12:30)Current Account (US) (12:30)Housing Starts (US) (12:30)Producer Price Index (US) (12:30)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSClaimant Count Rate (09:30)Jobless Claims Change (09:30)Average Weekly Earnings (09:30)ILO Unemployment Rate (09:30)Q4VeltiFINALSCathay International Holdings Ltd., French Connection Group, Greggs, Hardy Oil & Gas, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, MirLand Development Corp., RAB Capital, VeltiANNUAL REPORTNew World Resources NV (DI)SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAshley HouseAGMSDatong, Domino Printing SciencesFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Polythene Industries, FBD Holdings, Fidelity European Values, Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, Henderson Private Equity Inv Trust, Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Singapore), Jardine Matheson Holdingd Ltd. (Singapore), Jardine Strategic Holdingd Ltd. (Singapore), Kingspan Group, Lancashire Holdings, Law Debenture Corp., Mithras Inv Trust, Paddy Power, Quadnetics Group, Standard Life, Temple Bar Inv Trust, Thomas Cook Group, XP Power Ltd. (DI)