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A Brief Look At The Week Ahead | |
Another shortened week following the Easter break, has little in the way of corporate earnings news to provide any focus, although on Tuesday, the Bank of England will publish the minutes from the Monetary Policy Committee's meeting last month, in which the rate-setting group held interest rates steady for an eighth consecutive month which could provide something for the City to chew on. A trading update from PartyGaming on Tuesday could be one of the highlights of the week. The company is expected to continue its recent roll, despite ongoing uncertainty about the effects of new US gambling regulations on its business. DKW expects the company to report $325m in Q1 revenue, a 46% increase on the previous year. If the numbers are as bright as expected, it may renew speculation of more consolidation in the gambling sector. Associated British Foods is scheduled to publish H1 results on Wednesday that will show the differing fortunes of its two businesses: the retailer Primark and British Sugar, which is facing a difficult business environment. The sugar business has been hindered by the EU's effort to bring supply into balance with demand, which led to a change in regulations to reduce supply. British Sugar's subsequent drop in sales has been exacerbated by rising energy prices that have increased input costs for the business. The company is expected to reveal 260m in pre-tax profits, up a tick from 259m the year before. Analysts will also be keen for any news on the progress of its possible bid for a controlling stake in Illovo, the South African sugar producer. Also on Wednesday, SkyePharma publishes annual results. The company is facing a raft of issues, and there are questions about whether the new managers are moving with sufficient urgency to address them. SkyePharma put itself up for sale last November after receiving an unsolicited approach, but failed to find a buyer. Shareholders, already angered by its chronic underperformance, the falling share price and its failure to find a partner for Flutiform, an asthma treatment it thinks could be a blockbuster, forced out the chairman in January. Attention will be focused on whether the company has made progress in finding a pharmaceutical partner to fund its development. Sir Martin Sorrell, on the other hand, will hope to build on the momentum established by his media services giant WPP at its annual results when he unveils Q1 results for the group on Friday. However, the group, which turned in improved growth rates and margins for 2005, is expected to release numbers for first three months that do no better than confirm earlier guidance. Other companies under scrutiny will include ARM Holdings and Superscape on Wednesday and JJB Sports and Millennium & Copthorne on Thursday. So, potentially another quiet week. Let's hope there is enough gossip in the weekend press to provide some excitement. I look forward to meeting some of you on Friday at MoneyAM's Active Investor LIVE 2006 event in London. I understand there are still some places available if you want to attend. It promises to be a very interesting session. See you there! Good hunting! Greystone (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.) |
Share | Volume | Chart | News | Various |
GLA price 10.25p | 6 times the usual last trading day Thursday | Share price bouncing from support 10p with indicators rising from oversold | Uramin (uranium mine - Trekkopje Uranium Project in Namibia) is explected to float this week or next, a large holding (17%) is held by GLA | Northern Dynasty, ( copper and gold mines ) another holding 23.9% where the share price is close to its highs |