Top-flight companies to report next week in UK

Top-flight players ranging from banks and insurers to brewer Scottish & Newcastle and miner Anglo American will be updating the market during a busy few days for corporate news this week.

Investors will be looking for confirmation that things are getting better in the world economy when HSBC reports interim results tomorrow.

The global bank has already cheered the market with a pre-close trading statement saying its operating performance has been ahead of expectations, although management’s view of the rest of 2004 was uncertain.

Shareholders will be seeking assurances that rising oil prices are not dampening economic activity and that its own net interest margin – a key measure of profitability – is not falling too rapidly.

Pre-tax profits are expected to be 26% higher than the first half of the previous year at $7.7bn (€6.4bn), against $6.1bn (€5.07bn).

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle is expected to turn in a high single digits improvement in operating profits from its brewing business on Tuesday, although overall half yearly pre-tax profits are poised to fall 26% to £160m (€242.3m).

The company’s purchase of Hereford cider maker Bulmers is tipped to boost its UK beer operation, while lower costs and distribution improvements are also set to contribute, although extra marketing investment is likely to offset the latter.

The group’s international beer operations are expected to have benefited from its acquisition of full ownership of Portuguese brewer Cantralcer while Euro 2004 soccer should also have helped.

However, there are concerns about the profitability of the company’s French operations.

Kronenbourg should have made good market share gains among its premium beers, but pricing has been difficult in France and market volumes may have declined overall.

Another bank tipped to unveil rising profits this week is Royal Bank of Scotland (RBOS), which reports interims on Tuesday.

Analysts at stockbroker Gerrard anticipate that RBOS will come up with a 21% rise in pre-tax profits to £3.5bn (€5.3bn).

They expect to see the bank report a continuation of strong revenue momentum into the second half of the year, although a major point of interest will be its proposed acquisition of US bank Charter One.

Investors will look for confirmation that the mortgage book at its current US operation, Citizens, and Charter One are geared towards a rising interest rate environment.

Charter has already given some reassurance on this in its second quarter results, but UK investors are likely to demand further comfort.

Insurance group Aviva is poised to report a 30% hike in interim pre-tax profits on Wednesday to £1.07bn (€1.62bn).

Market watchers say they are not expecting fireworks from the insurer, which surprised the market on the upside with its full year results for 2003, saying cost savings were ahead of schedule.

New business volumes at the group’s Norwich Union unit are expected to be strong because the stronger life companies are currently benefiting from the recent closure of a number of weaker market players.

The group’s European new business is tipped to be only marginally ahead, since market reports suggest that European consumers are still cautious and reluctant to buy unit-linked savings products. The management is also expected to comment on general insurance pricing.

Investors are expecting Midlands automotive and aerospace engineer GKN to post a 17.5% drop in interim pre-tax profits to £108m (€163.6m) on Thursday.

The group, which has just done a deal to sell its AgustaWestland helicopter business for more than £1bn (€1.5BN), is expected to blame the drop partly on unusual seasonality in the chopper division, where delivery timings will skew profits into the second half.

GKN is also facing £9m (€13.6M) of extra pension costs and a £10m (€15m) hit from higher-than-expected raw material prices.

The group’s main automotive activity, drive line systems, is set to be slightly down due to currency fluctuations and higher input costs.

Programme delays in the aerospace division meant its year got off to a slow start, although an improving sales momentum, helped by improving civil aviation demand and acquisitions, is expected in the second half.

Strong results from the base metals, ferrous metals and platinum businesses of miner Anglo American are set to push its first half income up by about 47% to $1.26bn (€1bn) on Thursday, broker Gerrard said.

The recent strength of commodity prices is thought to be driving the increase, with more modest performances expected from the group’s coal and paper businesses.

The diamond business and industrial minerals operations have been affected by lagged realisation prices and, in the latter case, by weak markets.

The outlook statements should be relatively positive, with the group being confident about future commodity prices, but the recent strength of the South African rand may cause concern.