Week Ahead 15-19 October

Monday 15 October

Final: Nanoco

Trading statements: Filtrona, Fresnillo, McBride

AGMs: McBride, Medilink-Global

EGM: Diamond Circle Capital

Economics: Rightmove house prices (October)

Tuesday 16 October

Interim: Brown (N)

Finals: Bellway, Epistem, Smiths News, Spirit Pub Company

Trading statements: Carpetright, GKN, Petropavlovsk, Record, Rio Tinto

AGM: In-Deed Online

EGM: Energetix

Economics: ONS house prices (August), Producer prices, Consumer price index, Retail price index

Shareholders in Bellway (BWY) already have a pretty good idea of the housebuilder's performance when it reports results for the 12 months to the end of July on 16 October. A pre-close trading statement indicated that sales have risen by 6.2 per cent to 5,226 homes and, significantly, private completions - where margins are higher - increased 13.4 per cent to 4,358. This has helped to boost average selling prices by over 6 per cent to around £187,000, which is expected to push operating margins from 8.5 per cent the previous year to at least 11 per cent.

What's more, new site openings have helped to increase reservations from 93 to 101 per week, without any overall rise in sales incentives. The housebuilder has also spent £305m on land purchases on a further 4,650 plots, which means that the previous cash position turned into net borrowings of £41m at the July year-end. There was good news on the order book, too, which has grown in value by 3.4 per cent to £441m, representing 2,533 homes, in the two months to 7 August even in a seasonal sluggish period. As a result, full-year pre-tax profits are likely to be slightly ahead of current consensus estimates of £98m to produce EPS of around 61p and a dividend of 17.5p. For the current financial year to 31 July 2013, broker Northland Capital expects profits to rise to £122m, giving EPS of 76.4p and a dividend of 21p.

The shares eased back in recent weeks to 916p but, rated on a forward PE ratio of 12 and offering a prospective yield of 2.5 per cent, a positive trading update next week should be the catalyst for further gains.

Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) owns the so-called 'good pubs' that were demerged from Punch last year and, while the shares at 56p are lowly rated compared with its peers, its experienced management team have a big job on their hands turning the estate around and getting profitability in line with peers.

A 4.8 per cent like-for-like uplift in managed pubs sales is on the cards for the financial year to 18 August, while tenanted pubs have seen a 4.9 per cent fall in net income. Chief executive Mike Tye noted that the business finished the 12-month trading period strongly despite challenging trading conditions created by the poor summer weather and the disruption caused by the Olympic Games. Spirit's managed estate significantly outperformed the market and investors will be keen to see the progress the group is making pushing profitability further ahead now the managed pub rebranding exercise is 80 per cent complete.

Analysts will also be keeping an eye on signs of stabilising trading at tenanted pubs following action taken to lower rents, sell some of the worst pubs, and change lease agreements. Ahead of the results on 16 October, leisure analyst Nick Batram at broker Peel Hunt forecasts pre-tax profits of £51m and EPS of 5.7p in the 12 months to 18 August 2012, up from £44m and 4.8p, respectively, the prior year. Following a maiden half-year payout of 0.65p a share, the broker is expecting a final dividend of 1.25p a share, implying a 3.4 per cent yield.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) is being forced to trim costs, principally in response to a slowdown in Chinese steel production. Ahead of a trading statement on 16 October, Rio chief executive Tom Albanese confirmed that the group was pressing ahead with plans to reduce its workforce, but it is still committed to ramping up iron ore output from its operations in Western Australia.

Shareholders might receive an update as to whether the expansion of rail/port facilities for coal operations in Mozambique will be delayed, but Rio will continue to focus primarily on shrinking service and support costs for the remainder of this year. There should also be more detail as to how the iron ore price slump in July and August will impact on average realised prices for 2012. The group derives close to half of its revenues from iron ore, so it will be a keen observer of November's power transition in China, which could conceivably precipitate new stimulus measures to counter slowing economic growth.

Analysts at Canaccord Capital note that Rio Tinto is valued on 5.6 times calendar 2012 enterprise value (EV) to cash profits estimates and expect the main driver of the share price performance to be underpinned by a recovery in iron ore prices over the next few months.

Investors continue to push up the share price of newspaper distributor Smiths News (NWS) and it has now risen an eye-catching 66 per cent to 130p since we selected the company as one of our Tips of the Year. This impressive share price performance is based on sound fundamentals as the company's preliminary results are expected to be at top end of analysts' estimates.

Ahead of those figures on 16 October, broker Peel Hunt is expecting full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £46m and EPS of 18.6p, having upgraded estimates by 3 per cent after a trading update in July. As a result, last year's chunky dividend payout of 8p a share is not only looking increasingly sustainable, but Peel Hunt is actually forecasting a 8 per cent increase in the payout, implying a dividend yield of 6.6 per cent.

Even after such stellar gains, we remain buyers as Smiths' position as one of the country's leading distributors has been further cemented by a five-year contract extension with News International and the decline in print media now looks manageable. The other big question was one of growth and Smiths News seems to have found the answer through the recent Consortium acquisition, which has been trading ahead of forecast.

Wednesday 17 October

Finals: Vertu Motors

Trading statements: BHP Billiton, Diageo, International Personal Finance, Speedy Hire

AGMs: Diageo, Vipera, Wasabi Energy

EGMs: Man, Persimmon, Raven Russia

Economics: Bank of England minutes, Unemployment figures, Average weekly earnings

It's likely that next week's first-quarter trading statement from BHP Billiton (BLT) on 17 October will only provide a partial picture as to the likely level of contraction at the mining giant's core iron ore division. The segment generated just under a third of group revenues in the 12 months to the end of June, but the recent decision to mothball a proposed $20bn (£12.3bn) development at its Port Hedland site casts doubt over the timetable for the planned expansion of its iron ore operations in Western Australia.

In fact, the Anglo-Australian miner has just confirmed that it has entered into new discussions with workers about job losses at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region, although the extent of the cuts is dependent on how many workers opt for new assignments within the group. The trading statement should point to a marked reduction in planned capital expenditure, although analysts will also be looking for clues as to whether the planned job losses and easing of wage price inflation in Australia will have a beneficial affect on unit cash-costs and margins.

Analysts at Canaccord Capital note that BHP Billiton is being valued on 6.2 times enterprise value (EV) to cash profits based on forecasts for the financial year to June 2013. Historically, the group's valuation has traded in a range between four and nine times 12-month forward EV to cash profits.

Thursday 18 October

Interim: Booker

Final: Punch Taverns

Trading statements: Britvic, Cairn Energy, Evraz, Hochschild Mining, Jupiter Fund Management, Ladbrokes, Man, Mecom, Mothercare, NCC, Renishaw, SABMiller, UBM, Xaar

AGMs: IG, Mattioli Woods, Renishaw

Economics: Retail sales, Public sector borrowing

The news that investors are waiting for from Booker's (BOK) first-half results on 18 October is an update on its plans for integrating rival wholesaler Makro, which was acquired in July for £124m in shares and £16m in cash.

Trading has been poor at Makro but, until the OFT approves the deal, which is expected this month, it will be reported as a separate entity, so broker Investec Securities expects pre-tax profit growth of over 10 per cent following 3.8 per cent first-half like-for-like growth in non-tobacco sales. As implied by the lofty rating on the shares, at 94p, on 22 times full-year EPS forecasts of 4.2p, the Makro acquisition has plenty of potential. The acquisition widens Booker's customer base and provides the potential to increase internet sales as well as improve the efficiency of the combined operations.

Friday 19 October

Trading statements: African Barrick Gold, Cooper Industries, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Petrofac, Provident Financial, Rank, Spectris, William Hill

AGMs: Argos Resources, Brooks Macdonald, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Rank

Shares going ex-dividend on 17 October

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.