Welcome to the week ahead, our summary of the forthcoming key company announcements. Companies are no longer obliged to notify the London Stock Exchange (LSE) of results and trading updates, so this list does not claim to be comprehensive. You can read company announcements on at http://announce.ft.com and our daily online news summaries record all key company announcements and business press headlines.
Monday 21 January
Interim: City of London Investment Group
AGM: John Lewis of Hungerford
Economics: Rightmove house prices
Tuesday 22 January
Trading statements: Cairn Energy, Fresnillo, Optos, SABMiller
AGM: Marston's
Economics: Public sector borrowing, CBI trends - total orders, selling prices, CBI business optimism
Wednesday 23 January
Final: Unilever
Trading statements: BHP Billiton, Britvic, Close Brothers, Findel, Hochschild Mining, Land Securities, Sage, WH Smith
AGMs: Enegi Oil, Independent Resources, Redefine International, WH Smith, Topps Tiles
Economics: Unemployment data, Average earnings
Thursday 24 January
Final: Chemring
Trading statements: Anglo Platinum, APR Energy, Carphone Warehouse, easyJet, FirstGroup, Invensys, London Mining, Paypoint, St James's Place
AGM: Smiths News
EGM: Rexam
Economics: BBA house purchase loans, CBI reported sales
Little has been going right for defence contractor Chemring (CHG). Major markets are drying up, orders are being delayed elsewhere and a new product has suffered technical problems. The company issued two profit warnings in the second half of last year and Carlyle, a potential white knight, walked away from a bid. In the circumstances, it was no surprise that chief executive David Price lost his job, so it's up to new boss Mark Papworth to stop the rot.
Expectations are high. Mr Papworth ran the gas turbines services division at Wood Group and oversaw a strategic review that delivered a big increase in profits, but repeating the feat at Chemring will not be easy. Revenue for the year to 31 October 2012 rose just 2 per cent to £740m and an order book of £760m is £118m lighter than a year before. Analysts at Investec Securities think underlying pre-tax profit will have slumped 41 per cent to £70.8m in the latest two-month trading period. We know the numbers are poor, so much will depend on what Mr Papworth says when the results are published on Thursday 24 January. Restoring credibility and operational efficiency will be crucial.
Friday 25 January
Final: Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities
Trading statements: Anglo American, Covidien, William Hill
AGM: Infrastrata
EGM: Coal of Africa
Economics: Fourth-quarter GDP
Shares going ex-dividend on 23 January
Company | Dividend (p) | Payment |
Anite | 0.575 | 15 Feb |
Avation | 1.05 | 22 Feb |
City of London Inv Trust | 3.52 | 28 Feb |
Compass | 14.1 | 25 Feb |
Dewhurst | 4.68 | 15 Feb |
F&C Private Equity Tst 'Rtd Vtg' | 1.675 | 14 Feb |
Fletcher King | 0.75 | 22 Feb |
Gooch & Housego | 3.2 | 1 Mar |
Impax Asset Management | 0.75 | 20 Feb |
RWS | 13.48 | 22 Feb |
Shaftesbury | 6.05 | 15 Feb |
SSE | 25.2 | 22 Mar |
Titon | 0.5 | 22 Feb |
The ex-dividend date is the first day on which it is no longer possible to buy the shares and qualify for the dividend. Ex-days are almost always a Wednesday. The record date is usually two days after the ex-date. The payment day is the day on which the funds are transferred to shareholders.