With few top flight companies expected to report next week, the spotlight will fall on companies in the FTSE 250, ranging from breweries and supermarkets to electronics firms.

Analysts are expecting big things from supermarket group Somerfield when it reports half-year figures on Wednesday.

The group is tipped to turn in interim pre-tax profits of £14.3m against about £7.9m last time - an 81 per cent increase.

Gaming group Stanley Leisure is expected to report interim pre-tax profits before goodwill of £2.01m on Thursday, against £24.7m last time.

Investors will be looking for encouraging signs from the Liverpool bookmaker's casino Crockfords.

Software group Misys last month warned that poor performances by its banking and securities arm and healthcare operations would contribute to first-half revenues short of last year's figures.

Analysts expect the company to post pre-tax profits of £45.7m for the six months to November 30, compared to £56.2m at the same time last year.

Pubs group Wolverhampton and Dudley painted an optimistic picture at its annual meeting last year, and investors will be hoping for more of the same when shareholders meet on Friday.

Since posting sales growth of 3.6 per cent in the year to September 30, the group has benefited from good weather and the Rugby World Cup, with a rise in like-for-like volumes of 3.1 per cent at its managed pubs and 45 per cent at its tenanted inns.

Analysts are not expecting any surprises when industrial gases group BOC holds its annual meeting on Friday.

Its year-end trading update was relatively upbeat, with BOC noting positive momentum in volumes and pricing, plus tentative signs of an improved order outlook for its semiconductor equipment supply business.

No comment is expected on ongoing legal action in the US, where 9,700 former welders are claiming that manganese fumes gave them Parkinson's disease, according to fund manager Gerrard.

Electronics and ceramics group Cookson is likely to continue its recent revival by announcing fourth-quarter figures that put it on track to meet market forecasts of profits of £25m for the year to December 31.

The group, which employs about 17,000 people worldwide, is expected to report a pick-up in sales in its electronics division since September after a difficult couple of years for the technology industry.

Investors will be hoping for a turnaround in sales in precious metals following a four per cent drop to £75m in the three months to September 30 and further progress in ceramics.

l Companies reporting results next week include:

Monday

No companies reporting

Tuesday

Interims: Besak

Wednesday

Finals: Somerfield

Thursday

Interims: Ashtead, Misys, Stanley Leisure

Friday

Finals: Burndene Investment