Wednesday preview: Thomas Cook, Sage, Manufacturing

30th Nov 2010 17:01

Business software giant Sage Group and travel company Thomas Cook provide the company focus midweek.With the cold weather truly upon us the market may well be in just the mood to get its teeth into a trading update from holiday firm Thomas Cook .The company recently announced its long awaited move into the Russian market. It's teamed up with VAO Intourist, Russia's longest established travel business, to form a joint venture focused on expansion in Russia and the other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. The British company will own a 50.1% holding in the joint venture, initially paying a maximum consideration of $45m for the stake, to be satisfied through the issue of $35m of Thomas Cook shares with the rest satisfied in cash.Market consensus is for profit before tax of £265.4m on sales of £9,268m. Panmure Gordon is more optimistic than most brokers, going for profit before tax of £279m and earnings per share of 23.7p."Whilst forecasts were downgraded twice in the fourth quarter of 2010, actions being taken in the UK should help underpin progress in fiscal 2011," the broker said."At the last update, booking trends for Winter 2010/11 and Summer 2011 were in line with expectations and ahead of last year in most major source markets," Panmure Gordon added.Accountancy software giant Sage is tipped to bang out pre-tax profits of £331.4m on revenue of £1,439m. Earnings per share should be around 18.5p.On the economic front, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers survey for November should show that the sector expanded in November. Economists have pencilled in a reading of 54.5 - a value above 50 indicates expansion - down from 54.9 in October but above the 11-month low of 53.4 recorded in September.The expected decline in the index value could indicate that the restocking that took place when the economy emerged from the recession is beginning to tail off.Wednesday December 01INTERIMSAfrican Consolidated Resources, Anite, Cyril Sweett Group, GEONG International Ltd., May Gurney Integrated Services, Telford HomesINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAga Rangemaster Group, Ladbrokes, Sony Corp.INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlliance Pharma, Assura Group Ltd., Caledonia Investments, Dee Valley Group, Dee Valley Group (Non-Voting), Establishment Inv Trust, GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd., Hamworthy, Hansa Trust, Hansa Trust 'A' Shares, Headlam Group, Helical Bar, Homeserve, Intermediate Capital Group, Investment Company, JD Sports Fashion, Johnson Matthey, Kewill, London & Stamford Property Ltd., London Stock Exchange Group, Management Consulting Group, Mckay Securities, Morgan Crucible Co, National Grid, Northern Investors Co, PayPoint, Rensburg AIM VCT, SABMiller, Sepura, Severn Trent, Slingsby H.C, Tate & Lyle, UK Mail Group , Young & Co's Brewery 'A' SharesQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEJPMorgan Claverhouse Inv TrustQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBank of America Corp., Premier Energy & Water TrustINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Manufacturing (FRA) (08:50)PMI Manufacturing (GER) (08:55)PMI Manufacturing(EU) (09:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Non-farm Productivity (US) (13:30)Unit Labour Costs (US) (13:30)ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00)Construction Spending (US) (15:00)Auto Sales (US) (15:00)Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)GMSGartmore European Inv Trust, Integrated Asset ManagementFINALSBrewin Dolphin Holdings, Sage Group, Thomas Cook GroupEGMSAllianz Dresdner Endowment Policy Trust 2010AGMSBlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust Sub Shares, GR Holdings, Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd., Leaf Clean Energy Co (DI), Nighthawk Energy, WFCAUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Manufacturing (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDods Group FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEA&J Mucklow Group, Daily Mail and General Trust, Daily Mail and General Trust 'Ord' Shares, Diploma, Greencore Group, Group NBT, JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust, K3 Business Technology Group, Northamber, Pan African Resources, RSM Tenon Group, Smart (J) & Co., St Ives, Standard Life Equity Income Trust