Home | Log In | Register | Our Services | My Account | Contact | Help |
A Brief Look At The Week Ahead | |
On the face of it, there will be a quiet return to the market following the long weekend break. However, there are enough big-hitters reporting results on Wednesday and Thursday to keep the kettle boiling. For easyJet, things are expected to get worse. In the maiden interim results for its new CEO, Andy Harrison, on Wednesday, Charles Stanley predicts a 45m loss for the six months ending in March, partly due to the Easter holiday falling outside the period, but also to higher fuel costs that have added an estimated 55m to the carrier's costs. BG Group will publish its quarterly numbers on Wednesday. BG had pledged to spend 1bn on buying back shares, but it has reduced its activity in recent months as its share price has climbed. Its liquefied natural gas unit, meanwhile, helped by the activation of a couple of projects in Egypt and the high price of gas, is adding cash to the books. Babcock International reveals annual results on Wednesday Since BAE Systems and VT Group acknowledged last month that they were considering making an offer for the company, its shares are up more than 24%. Analysts don't expect its CEO, Peter Rogers, to say a word about the possible deal. Rather, he will be eager to trumpet what is expected to be a strong year at the ship-building and services group. Michael Donnelly of Bridgewell Securities predicts pre-tax profit of 40.5m, up from 35m the year before. On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell is set to outdo last year's Q1 profits as it continues to benefit from sky-high oil prices. Shareholders will pay special attention to what the company says about its dividend and share buyback programme. Shell has a lot of cash on its books, and investors will be looking for an indication of what the company plans to do with it, other than giving more back to them. Brokers Williams de Broexpects a pre-tax profit of $5.7bn for the quarter, up from $5.3bn the year before. The other area of interest will be the company's outlook for production after it raised its capital expenditures projections last quarter. Problems in Nigeria are expected to hinder production, though to what extent is unclear. The big question mark over South African miner Lonmin on Thursday will be rising labour costs. Sixty per cent of the company's costs go to pay its workers, and management has been trying to mechanise more of its mining processes to reduce its costs. It wasn't helped earlier this month when its largest smelter broke down, bringing production to a halt for 11 days. The extent of that stall will be of great interest to analysts, as will the company's outlook for the price of the metal palladium, which is used in catalytic converters for cars, industrial production and jewellery. Williams de Broexpects $315m in interim pre-tax profits. ICI is wrestling with a 1.5bn pension deficit and rising input costs, but looks set to unveil continued progress of its turnaround in its quarterly results on Thursday. Other companies under scrutiny this week include Matalan, BSkyB and BAT on Wednesday; Blacks Leisure on Thursday and Body Shop International on Friday. A busy week in prospect, whatever sector interests you. Should be fun! Good hunting! Greystone (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.) |
SHARE | VOLUME | CHART | NEWS | VARIOUS |
GGG price 9.625p | Above average volume but strong buying compare with selling last Friday | On the 2 week chart MACD and RSI has gone positive as a double bottom has been formed, could see again the 12p offer on the cards soon | Plenty of trips lately from the CEO to China, with some deals recently announced but more to come soon as cash has been building up after last week exercised warrants | GOLD prices where reaching a 25 year high $660 today. Directors have a background of working in China and have a solid spread of experience across the mining industry |
2 weeks chart - bollinger bands, MACD
3 month
2 weeks chart - bollinger bands, MACD
3 month
2 weeks chart - bollinger bands, MACD
3 month