Wednesday preview: Marks & Spencer, Aveva, 3i, Carillion

6th Jul 2010 17:15

High Street bellwether stock Marks and Spencer (M&S) will issue a first quarter interim management statement on Wednesday. If things work out well for management, the trends will be good enough to take shareholders' minds off director remuneration, which is likely to be a hot topic at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on 14 July.The trading update will be the first since Marc Bolland took over as chief executive of the company on 1 May, a move that entailed a £15m pay package to persuade the former Morrison's man to take up what, once upon a time at least, was regarded as the most prestigious job in British retailing.The company may have benefited from increased merchandise sales related to the World Cup, although England's early exit from the competition means the windfall will be limited unless the store has been inundated with orders from angry England fans keen to ceremonially burn England team paraphernalia.The company may also comment on the coalition government's decision to bump up VAT to 20% from 3 January of next year. Engineering software maker Aveva is combining its AGM and trading statement. Panmure Gordon thinks the statement will one of the "trading in line with expectations" sort.It is not anticipating having to change full year forecasts as a result of Wednesday's statement but is hoping for "better disclosure on Aveva Net and how its financial model works."The company may have some good news to report on developments in Latin America while it is not expected to have suffered any fall out from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Private equity investment firm 3i is slowly recovering from the credit crunch which caught the company in an over geared position at the same time that the "mark to market" value of its investments was plummeting.Net asset values have been on the climb this year, last we heard, with the company's net asset value per share at the end of March standing at 321p, up from 279p a year prior to that. Debt was also sharply lower, falling to £258m from £1,912m.Construction firm Carillion has kept up a steady stream of contract win announcements since the general election on May 7, including a 10-year framework contract to provide facilities management services at Heathrow Airport.The prospect of public sector spending cutbacks must be of concern to the company so it would be no surprise were Wednesday's trading update to include some heavy emphasis on the group's international operations.INTERIMSIDOXINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEATH Resources, CareTech Holding, Chrysalis VCT, Dunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, ITE Group, Japan Leisure Hotels, Octopus Phoenix VCT, Octopus Titan VCT 1, Octopus Titan VCT 2, Pressure Technologies, Safestore, Sinclair (William) Holdings, THB GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Schroder Income Growth FundINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)GDP (2nd release) (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Trade Balance (FRA) (07:45)Household Consumption (EC) (10:00)Government Expenditure (EC) (10:00)FINALSGreat Eastern Energy Corp. GDR, Northern Bear, Photo-Me InternationalANNUAL REPORTCropper (James)IMSS3i Group, Big Yellow Group, Booker Group, Marks & SpencerAGMS3i Group, Aveva Group, Booker Group, Capital Gearing Trust, Eastern European Trust, IBIS Media VCT, Leni Gas & Oil, May Gurney Integrated Services, PayPointTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSCape, Carillion, CRHUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBRC Shop Price Index (00:01)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECineworld Group, Restaurant Group, Staffline GroupFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBond International Software, Burberry Group, Chloride Group, De La Rue, Hyder Consulting, Investment Company (The), Monks Inv Trust, New Century AIM VCT 2, Octopus Protected VCT 1, Rensburg AIM VCT, Shanks Group, Vedanta Resources, Walker Greenbank, Wincanton