Week Ahead: Sage, Aberdeen Asset, Smith & Nephew

30th Apr 2010 11:53

It's a shortened week next week thanks to the May bank holiday and as usual Wednesday and Thursday look like being the busiest days, with FTSE 100 companies Sage, Legal & General, Liberty International and Next reporting on Wednesday and Vedanta, Morrison's, Schroders, Smith & Nephew and RSA Insurance declaring on Thursday.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.Fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management brings its interim results out on Tuesday. KBC Peel Hunt, which is forecasting profit before tax of £80.5m versus £33m a year ago, thinks the "focus will be on whether the slowdown in outflows has continued and by how much cash generation has improved."The company is a very different beast to the one it was a year ago, thanks to the acquisition of certain fund management assets and contracts of RBS Asset Management for £84.7m, announced back in January, and last year's acquisition of Credit Suisse's fund management business.The group has already reported that AuM at 28 February stood at £161.4bn.Thursday, May 6, is the date of the general election in the UK and also the day on which medical devices firm Smith & Nephew is set to release first quarter fugures.Charles Stanley is predicting earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of $220m, up from $183m in the first quarter of 2009. Group sales are tipped to advance to $980m from $865m a year earlier, a 14% increase "of which about 5.5% may have been derived from favourable FX [foreign exchange] movements."Monday May 03INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSAuto Sales (US) (15:00)Construction Spending (US) (15:00)House Price Index (AUS) (00:00)ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00)Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)Personal Income (US) (13:30)Personal Spending (US) (13:30)PMI Manufacturing(EU) (09:00)PMI Manufacturing(GER) (08:55)PMI Manufacturing(FRA) (08:50)Retail Sales (GER) (07:00)AGMSGlobaltrans Investment GDR (Reg S), Greystar ResourcesUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSHalifax House Price Index (09:30)PMI Manufacturing (09:30)Q1Yamana Gold IncTuesday May 04INTERIMSAberdeen Asset ManagementINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEKier Group, Photo-Me InternationalINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)Factory Orders (US) (15:00)Pending Homes Sales (US) (15:00)PMI Construction (EU) (09:00)PMI Construction (GER) (08:55)Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)Spring Economic Forecasts (eu)GMSOld MutualIMSSAer Lingus Group, G4SEGMSMaple EnergyAGMSChina Medical System Holdings, F&C Asset Management, Inmarsat, Lancashire Holdings, Norsk Hydro, RAB Capital, RPS GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSGEONG InternationalUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (09:30)M4 Money Supply (09:30)M4 Sterling Lending (09:30)Mortgage Approvals (09:30)Net Lending Secured on Dwellings (9.30)PMI Construction (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECommunisis, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Stadium Group, Ultra Electronics HoldingsWednesday May 05INTERIMSSage 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 REPORTCEPSIMSSJD 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, Wolfson MicroelectronicsThursday May 06INTERIMSAllied Healthcare International, Minorplanet SystemsINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATETelefonica SAINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (AUS) (00:00)BoJ Intrest Rates Minutes (JPN) (23:50)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)ECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Unit Labour Costs (US) (13:30)Leading Indicator Index (JPN) (05:00)Retail Sales (AUS) (00:00)Non-farm Productivity (US) (13:30)GMSVentus 3 VCTFINALSVedanta ResourcesIMSSArriva, Cobham, Computacenter, Mondi, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets, Resolution, Restaurant Group, Rexam, RSA Insurance Group, Schroders, Schroders NV, Tomkins, Yule CattoAGMSArriva, Atlantic Global, Bovis Homes Group, Brit Insurance Holdings NV, Catlin Group, Cobham, Costain Group, Devro, F&C Inv Trust, Fisher (James) & Sons, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, Grafton Group (Units), Hygea VCT, Inditherm, Jardine Matheson (Singapore), Jardine Strategic (Singapore), Lloyds Banking Group, Mondi, Morgan Sindall, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Restaurant Group, Rexam, Schroders, Schroders NV, Smith & Nephew, Sweet China, Yule CattoUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSOfficial Reserves (09:30)PMI Service Sector Survey (9.30)UK General Election Results (23:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish American Tobacco, Davis Service Group, First Quantum Minerals, JPMorgan American Inv Trust, Lavendon Group, Logica, SEGRO, Spirent CommunicationsQ1Endeavour International Corp, RSA Insurance Group, Smith & Nephew, Talvivaara Mining CompanyFriday May 07INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEF&C Private Equity, F&C UK Select Trust, Octopus Eclipse VCT 1, Octopus Eclipse VCT 3, Octopus Eclipse VCT 4QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEInvestors Capital Trust 'A' SharesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (US) (20:00)Industrial Production (GER) (11:00)Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)Average Hourly Earnings (US) (13:30)RBA Statement of Monetary Policy (AUS) (00:00)Retail Sales (GER) (07:00)Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)Trade Balance (FRA) (07:45)Monetary Base (JPN)FINALSCarpathian, Tanfield GroupANNUAL REPORTCrawshaw Group, Peel HotelsIMSSCatlin Group, IMI, T ClarkeSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEF&C Private Equity Restricte 'D' SharesAGMSAga Rangemaster Group, Anglogold Ashanti, Colgate Palm., Development Securities, DM, European Islamic Investment Bank, Guinness Peat Group, Hill and Smith, IMI, ITV, Nestor Healthcare, Niger Uranium, Oxford Catalysts, Psion, RCG Holdings, Smurfit Kappa Group, SPARK VCT, Standard Chartered, Sterling Energy, STM Group, T Clarke, Telef O2 GDR (Reg S/144a), The Hotel CorporationUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSNew Car Registrations (09:30)Producer Price Index (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBodycote, F&C Asset Management, Forth Ports, Holidaybreak, Meggitt, Octopus IHT AIM VCT 'A' Shares, Pearson, RotorkQ1Anglogold Ashanti, Cryptologic Ld, Smurfit Kappa Group