SUCCESSION CASTS A CLOUD OVER BSkyB
The row over James Murdoch's selection as chief executive of BSkyB threatens to overshadow the broadcaster's first quarter results on Friday.

News of BSkyB's 20m campaign promoting its digital video recorder Sky+ and subscriber numbers is also expected.

Industrial action by check-in staff during July is likely to have blown a 40m hole inBritish Airway's secondquarter results.

The airline will confirm the damage with its interim figures on Monday. Pre tax profits for the three months to September are likely to have dived from 245m last year to 50m-75m.

But the City thinks the reviving US economy promises bluer skies ahead.

BOC, which reports interim results on Thursday, will update investors on its appeal in a US welding fumes lawsuit that could expose it to further claims.

Northern Foods, which recently issued a profits warning and announced the departure of its chief executive, will report its interim figures on Tuesday.

Profits have been squeezed by rising raw material costs and tough trading conditions for convenience foods.

Rival Uniq, due to announce half-year data on Monday, has sounded an upbeat note on recent sales, but is reviewing its costs amid competitive markets.

Publisher EMAP has forecast a 3% rise in sales, ahead of first half results which are scheduled on Tuesday.

It has claimed good progress towards its year-end goals, but admitted it was too early to hail a major upturn in the advertising market.

Invensys, due to issue interim data on Thursday, has continued its divestment programme with the sale of its metering systems arm for 390m last month.

No regional revival?

Although the Bank of England felt safe to hike interest rates this month, the Confederation of British Industry warned that smaller firms remain squeezed.

Its quarterly regional trends survey on Tuesday may also offer little comfort - back in August it found waning business confidence in nine of 11 UK regions.

But the August survey did show optimism on export prospects - data since then suggests hopes may have been dashed!

Trade data for September is also due on Tuesday. So far there has been little sign of the pound's recent fall against the euro boosting our sales to Europe.

A month earlier, the UK's trade gap grew by nearly 600m to 3.6bn as the deficit with other EU countries widened to more than 2bn.

There are now some signs of revival by Europe's economies, but the interest rate hike will not help exporters.

Unemployment briefly showed signs of heading back upwards earlier this year. But this proved a blip as it has eased back again to 28-year lows.

Jobless data for October on Wednesday may well show another slight fall and average earnings data should show pay deals also remain modest.

Were it not for the public sector's more generous awards, the rate would be even lower than the current 3.5%.

Also reporting...

Third quarter figures on Tuesday from International Power may also see more news on its plans to restructure the financially troubled Drax power plant.

Thursday's finals from Capital Radio come after the London-based operator warned of a 4% drop in revenues and hard times continuing for advertising.

Tuesday's trading update at Kingfisher, now purely a DIY retailer, comes as its B&Q chain makes a splash in China.

MONDAY November 10

Finals: Carr's Milling Industries, Ferraris Group.

Interims: British Airways, DCC, Printing.com, Radstone Technology, Renold, Uniq.

Producer prices (Oct).

TUESDAY November 11

Finals: Galen Holdings.

Interims: Comino Group, Dicom Group (Q1), EMAP, InTechnology, International Power (Q3), nCipher (Q3), Northern Foods, Oxford Instruments, Reckitt Benckiser (Q3), VT Group.

Trading update: Kingfisher (Q3).

UK trade (Sep). CBI regional trends survey.

WEDNESDAY November 12

Interims: Antisoma (Q1), Business Post, Cable & Wireless, Dairy Crest, Luminar, Wincanton.

Unemployment (Oct), average earnings (Jul-Sep). Bank of England inflation report.

THURSDAY November 13

Finals: BOC Group, Capital Radio.

Interims: Bank of Ireland, BT Group, Invensys, Marconi, Touchstone Group, Yell.

FRIDAY November 14

Interims: BSkyB (Q1)

RICS housing survey