THE City has another bumper week of blue chip results to look forward to, with figures due out from giants such as BP Amoco, Lloyds TSB and Cadbury Schweppes.
The fuel protest lobby will be keeping a close eye on the annual figures presented by petroleum giant BP Amoco on Tuesday, and it is likely the group will receive a similar roasting to the one handed out to Shell this week.
The City is forecasting BP Amoco's profits will have shot up by as much as £6.9bn to £11.5bn, said brokers Gerrard.
Analysts will be keen for an update on current trading from confectionery and soft drink giant Cadbury Schweppes when it reports its annual figures on Wednesday.
While the City believes pre-tax profits will have fizzed up to £755m on the back of a strong performance from its beverages division, there are concerns the sales growth of its Dr Pepper and Seven Up brands is beginning to reflect the slower growth within the colas market in general. Its confectionery division is also expected to have been hit by a tough chocolate market in the UK.
Figures from Alliance & Leicester on Thursday are predicted to show just how good rival Northern Rock's results, released on January 31, actually were. In contrast to Northern's increase in profits, A&L is expected to report a drop of more than £50m, to below £450m, because of higher spending on Internet development.
Lloyds TSB's annual results presentation next Friday will be eagerly awaited by the City, if not for the profit figures themselves. Pre-released as part of its near-£20bn conditional bid for Abbey National at the end of January, Lloyds' results, showing pre-tax profits of £3.9bn, will come as no surprise, and the focus of attention will be on the finer detail.
l Companies reporting next week:
MONDAY - Interims: Billiton, Interactive Investor International (Q1).
TUESDAY - Finals: BP Amoco (Q4), Brammer, Hemscott.net, Internet Business Group, Morgan Sindall, Paterson Zochonis, Skillsgroup, Torex, Zen Research. Interims: QXL Ricardo (Q3).
WEDNESDAY - Finals: Bookham Technology, Cadbury Schweppes, Doddies Garden Centres, Robert Walters, Shire Pharmaceuticals, St Mowden Properties, Xaar. Interims: Armitage Brothers, Brown & Jackson.
THURSDAY - Finals: Alliance & Leicester, Autonomy (Q4), BG Group, Estates & General, Green Property, P&O Princess (Q4), Smith & Nephew. Interims: Easyscreen (Q3), Interregnum, Netstore, TransEDA.
FRIDAY - Finals: Lloyds TSB.
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