Wednesday preview: Pru, L&G, Sage

4th May 2010 15:52

FTSE 100 companies Sage, Legal & General, Liberty International, Next and Prudential are scheduled to give trading updates on Wednesday while Chilean copper miner Antofgasta will issue a quarterly production report.The Pru will announce the terms of its $20bn rights issue to fund the acquisition of AIG's Asian (AIA) businesses. The latest scuttlebutt is that the issue will be priced at around a 40% discount to the theoretical ex-rights price.At the same time the Pru will give a trading update on its performance in the first quarter and will probably also publish details of its plans to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange.With more than half an eye on the need to persuade shareholders representing at least three-quarters of the issued share capital of the company to rubber stamp the AIA purchase management may well take the opportunity to talk up the synergies available in a merger of AIG's Asian businesses with Prudential's own.Fellow insurer Legal & General will almost certainly find its trading update overshadowed by the Pru.Worldwide life and pension sales (excluding retail investments) could be anywhere between £225m and £276m on an annualised premium equivalent basis, with the median forecast £252m.Accountancy software giant Sage releases interim results with revenue expected to dip to £713.8m, down from £748.4m at the halfway stage last year. Panmure Gordon is predicting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £166.6m, adjusted pre-tax profit of £161m and earnings per share of 8.7p.The broker thinks the key feature will be the expected continued profit recovery in the US, though it is also keeping an eye on debt reduction as that could lead to mergers & acquisition activity returning to the menu. "We expect an optimistic outlook statement with Sage commenting that despite a fragile market it is seeing some signs of recovery," the broker said.Property company Liberty International plans to split into two separate businesses later this month so Wednesday's interim management statement will be the last before the demerger. Analysts are expecting to hear the company say it is still offering retailers incentives to bolster occupancy rates. Construction activity is expected to have warmed up in April, following on from the increase in activity in March, which was the first monthly upturn in 25 months. The construction purchasing managers index (PMI) is tipped to come in at around 53.0, down slightly from March's 53.1; a value above 50 indicates expansion. INTERIMSSage GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATENext Fifteen Communications, SwallowfieldQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBP, GlaxoSmithKline, M Winkworth, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B'INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Services (US) (15:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)PMI Composite (EU) (09:00)PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)PMI Services (EU) (09:00)PMI Services (GER) (08:55)PMI Services (FRA (08:50)Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)ANNUAL REPORTCEPSIMSSAntofgasta, JD Wetherspoon, Legal & General Group, Liberty International, Logica, Next, Petropavlovsk, Provident Financial, Rathbone Brothers, RightmoveSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAntofagastaEGMSGlobal Investment House KSCC GDR (Reg S)AGMSBAE Systems, Carillion, CRH, Dairy Farm International (Singapore), Dawson International, Dragon Oil, Global Investment House KSCC GDR (Reg S), Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Singapore), Johnson Service Group, JPMorgan American Inv Trust, Kerry Group 'A', Logica, Mandarin In.Sg, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, National Express Group, Provident Financial, Rathbone Brothers, Rightmove, Savills, Spirent Communications, WSP Group, Xstrata, Yamana Gold IncUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBRC Shop Price Index (00:01)Nationwide Consumer Confidence (00:01)Halifax House Prices PMI Composite (09:30)PMI Services (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEFBD Holdings, Rank GroupFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAG Barr, Anglo Pacific, Antofagasta, Biocompatibles International, Bunzl, CBG Group, Chaucer Holdings, Collins Stewart, G4S, Glanbia, GlobeOp Financial Services, Graphite Enterprise Trust, H & T Group, Henderson Group, Highcroft Investment, JD Sports Fashion, KBC Advanced Technologies, Kingfisher, Laird, M. P. Evans Group, Maven Income and Growth VCT 3, Maven Income and Growth VCT 4, Maven Income and Growth VCT 4 'S' Shares, Michael Page International, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets, Morson Group, Neptune-Calculus Income & Growth VCT, Northbridge Industrial Services, Raven Russia, Rexam, Straight, Tomkins, Weir Group, WinQ1CSR, Lancashire Holdings, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Prudential, Wolfson Microelectronics