Week Ahead 25 Feb - 1 March

Monday 25 February

Interims: International Ferro Metals, Petra Diamonds, Thorntons

Finals: Bovis Homes, Bunzl, Dialight, Domino's Pizza, Hiscox, Kingspan, Pearson, Persimmon, Senior, Staffline Recruitment, XP Power

Trading statement: Associated British Foods

AGMs: Asos, Treatt, Vatukoula Gold Mines

Economics: British Bankers' Association house purchase loans data, Nationwide house price figures, Hometrack housing survey

On Monday, housebuilder Bovis (BVS) will announce its full-year results - management has already indicated that legal completions grew by 15 per cent in 2012 to 2,355, while average sales prices rose from £162,400 to £170,700. Moreover, operating margins are expected to have jumped from 10 per cent to 13.5 per cent. Forward sales at the start of the January, meanwhile, rose 37 per cent from a year earlier to 778 units. Active sale sites have already grown from 80 at the start of 2012 to 90, with more sales outlets planned for the coming year. Group finances are in good shape, too, with a year-end net cash balance of £19m. New banking facility have also been secured, comprising a £125m revolving credit facility that expires in March 2017, along with a three-year £25m term loan. Numis Securities expect pre-tax profit of £52.5m for 2012, giving EPS of 29.3p.

Tuesday 26 February

Interims: Craneware, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Pantheon International, Redrow, RSM Tenon, Wilmington Group, Asian Citrus

Finals: CRH, Croda International, Devro, Elementis, GKN, Goals Soccer Centres, Kerry Group, NMC Health, Provident Financial, Robert Walters

Trading statement: Whitbread

AGMs: Andor Technology, Xcap Securities

EGM: Sirius Petroleum

Economics: Confederation of British Industry reported sales data (February)

Wednesday 27 February

Interims: Barratt Developments, Clinigen

Finals: Capital Shopping Centres, Carillion, Centrica, Henderson Group, Interserve, ITV, Molins, Oxford Biomedica, Petrofac, Segro, Synectics, Weir Group

AGMs: 2ergo Group, Gooch & Housego, Image Scan Holdings, LXB Retail Properties,

EGM: eTherapeutics

Economics: Fourth-quarter GDP, index of services, fourth-quarter government spending data, fourth-quarter private consumption figures, fourth-quarter import/export data, fourth-quarter total business investment

Capital Shopping Centres (CSCG), which announces full-year figures on Wednesday, is said to be in talks to buy Midsummer Place shopping centre in Milton Keynes for £250m. That raises questions about its loan-to-value ratio, which at 48 per cent last June, is higher than that of peers. Yet investors will also be keen to hear more concrete details on the imminent rebranding as ‘intu’, which was announced last month. Management want to build a consumer brand to rival that of its much larger competitor Westfield, and simultaneously upgrade its malls to meet the needs of the digital era.

The future balance of physical and digital retail is so opaque and fast-changing – nobody would have predicted five years ago that mobile phones would play a major role in retailing – that the launch of a digital strategy raises more questions than it answers. The bigger question is how intu will pay for the capital upgrades necessary to glitz-up its more tired properties. Broker Espirito Santo expects adjusted book value of 390p for 2012, down from 391p at end-2011.

Thursday 28 February

Interims: Gleeson (MJ), Hargreaves Services, Hays, Kier Group, Pacific Horizon, Pantheon International Participation, Ricardo

Finals: British American Tobacco, Capita, Capital & Counties, Colt Group, Derwent London, Direct Line Insurance, Frontline, Genel Energy, Howden Joinery, International Consolidated Airlines, Jupiter Fund Management, LSL Property Services, Man Group, National Express, Reed Elsevier, Royal Bank of Scotland, RPS Group, Spirent Communications, St James's Place, Vitec, Wentworth Resources, Xchanging

Investors should expect a less than inspiring performance from 81 per cent state-owned lender, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), when it reveals its full-year results on Thursday. Indeed, broker Investec Securities expects a £3.9bn pre-tax loss. To begin with, and even though these figures won’t show it yet, there’s last month’s £390m LIBOR-rigging fine to depress sentiment. But that’s small change compared to ongoing redress provisions – mainly for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling – and more pain here looks likely. Underlying trading has probably been tough, too. Investec expects “a very slow pace of recovery after five year of heavy losses” - reflecting such factor as weak loan growth in the core business, given poor economic conditions. Dividends can be ruled out for years to come, too. All that leaves the share price rerating – they’ve risen 55 per cent since early September amidst a much diminished fear of a Eurozone default – looking like there’s not much further to run. They now trade at 0.74 times Investec’s forecast net tangible assets – in line with that of Barclays’ share rating, a bank which pays dividends and has a credible restructuring programme.

Outsourcing group Capita (CPI) will also report full-year figures on Thursday - it looks to have revenue growth targets for the year ahead secured following some big contract wins, although profit margins and cashflow are likely to be a key focus for investors. Capita has announced big public sector contract wins in recent months as its Local Authority joint venture model continues to proves popular. Indeed, Barnet Council has already been signed-up and Staffordshire Council has selected Capita as preferred bidder on an estimated £1.7bn contract over 20 years. Such contract momentum, along with the £65m acquisition of Northgate Managed Services this month, has left broker Peel Hunt believing that organic growth targets for the year ahead are largely locked-in. The broker expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £416m, giving EPS of 49.7p (2011: £385m/48.4p). But with operating profit margins on the slide, and big contracts likely to strain working capital, there's plenty of scope for caution.

Trading statement: Kazakhmys

AGMs: Alternative Investment Strategies, Driver Group, Idox, Terrace Hill, Zytronic, William Sinclair Holdings

EGMs: Cable & Wireless Communications, GMA Resources

Economics: GfK consumer confidence

Friday 1 March

Finals: BBA Aviation, Berendsen, Candover Investments, Fiberweb, Hammerson, Laird, Law Debenture Corporation, Lloyds Banking Group, Old Mutual, Rightmove, Taylor Wimpey, UBM, William Hill, WPP

Trading statement: Stagecoach

AGM: Sage Group

EGM: Victoria Oil & Gas

Economics: Purchasing managers' index - manufacturing, net consumer credit data, mortgage approvals, M4 money supply figures

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.