Week Ahead 18-22 March

Monday 18 March

Interim: Nanoco

Finals: Ark Therapeutics, EKF Diagnostics, M&C Saatchi, Planet Payment, PowerFilm, TEG

Trading statement: Berkeley

EGMs: Severfield-Rowan, William Hill

Economics: Rightmove house prices

Tuesday 19 March

Finals: Bioquell, Cairn Energy, Clarke (T), Hydrodec, Hydro International, Johnston Press, Mears, Optimal Payments, Shore Capital, Source Bioscience, UTV Media, Xaar

Trading statements: J Sainsbury, Spirit Pub Company

AGMs: Beale, Britvic, Domino Printing Sciences

EGMs: Exillon Energy, Oxford Pharmascience

Economics: Producer prices, ONS house prices, Consumer price index, Retail price index

Wednesday 20 March

Interims: Bowleven, Smiths Group

Finals: Charles Taylor, Dolphin Capital Investors, Eurasian Natural Resources, Greggs, IQE, Restore

Trading statement: Asos

AGMs: Chemring, Safestore

EGMs: Resolution, Safestore

Economics: UK Budget, Bank of England minutes, Employment figures, Average earnings

Shares in IQE (IQE: 29p), a global supplier of advanced wafer products to the semiconductor industry, slumped a month ago after Qualcomm, a leading broadband and applications processor vendor in the wireless market, launched a front-end silicon-based radio frequency (RF) module to support 3G and 4G phones. At the time, the share prices of IQE's key customers (RFMD, Skyworks and Triquint) all fell on the news.

However, this looks a typical knee-jerk reaction by investors as technology analyst Vijay Anand at broker Espirto Santo notes that: "Qualcomm's solution is based on silicon, which has inherent physical limitations (consumes higher power at higher frequencies) in comparison to compound semiconductors. While it appears that Qualcomm's use of envelope technology plugs some of the gap, the technology is also available to IQE's customers who intend to (or already have) launched envelope tracking based RF solutions." In fact, IQE has stated that its power management solutions already extend battery life in 4G handsets by around 25 per cent and continue to outperform silicon in other areas including noise and resistance.

Mr Anand also notes that: "The Qualcomm product is an off-the-shelf solution limiting the ability for handset manufacturers to differentiate, whereas the products from IQE's customers are customised to the requirements of handset makers. In our view, Qualcomm largely targets the low-end of the smartphone market." It's worth noting, too, that high-end smartphones have between four and six times as much compound semiconductor content versus a low-end phone. Skyworks' management point out that the low-end silicon-based RF market is tiny and RFMD expects silicon-based RF products to account for less than 5 per cent of its first-quarter revenues. So, in effect, the market Qualcomm is targeting accounts for only 5-6 per cent of IQE's revenues and even then the US giant is unable to offer the same solutions to customers as IQE, given the differences in the technology used.

Espirito Santo is maintaining its 2013 pre-tax estimate at £11.4m based on revenues of £146m to produce EPS of 2.5p. For 2014, the broker forecasts profits of £19.5m and EPS of 3.6p assuming a rise in on turnover to £159m. On that basis, IQE's shares remain attractively rated on less than 12 times current year earnings estimates.

Thursday 21 March

Interim: Ultimate Finance

Finals: 32Red, Alliance Pharma, Apr Energy, Arbuthnot Banking, Barr (AG), Brainjuicer, Bumi, Cookson, EMIS, Goldenport, Inspired Energy, Lamprell, London Mining, Mecom, Next, Portmeirion, Premier Farnell, Premier Oil, PV Crystalox Solar, Scisys, Secure Trust Bank, Service Power Technologies, SkyePharma, Sopheon, Ted Baker, Vesuvius

Trading statement: United Utilities

AGMs: Agriterra, Jarvis Securities, Sable Mining Africa

Economics: Retail sales, Public sector borrowing, CBI trends - total orders, selling prices

Friday 22 March

Interim: Imperial Innovations

Finals: Moss Bros, Phoenix, Robinson, Songbird Estates, Tawa

Trading statement: Euromoney Institutional Investor

EGM: Kibo Mining

High-street retailer Moss Bros (MOSB - 68p) has turned yet another chic performance in the 24 weeks to 12 January 2013 and looks well attired to deliver a sharp rise in profits in the next couple of years. In the latest trading period, like-for-like sales rose 2.7 per cent and underlying cash gross profit was up almost 10 per cent on the comparative period a year earlier. Moreover, careful management of the level of discounting over Christmas and ongoing tight control of costs means that profits for the 2012-13 financial year have beaten analysts' expectations.

Following a pre-close trading statement in January, analysts at broking house Peel Hunt upgraded their full-year pre-tax profit estimate for the 12 months to 31 January 2013 by an eye-watering 47 per cent to £2.5m, giving EPS of 1.9p. And with gross margins better than expected, they have upgraded their numbers for the financial year to January 2014 by around 8 per cent and now expect profits of £3.1m and adjusted EPS of 2.3p. This is based on revenues rising from £105m to £109.7m, which could prove conservative considering management intends to refurbish a further 25 units this year. The business will also benefit from new online initiatives: its new transactional retail website has just launched and the new Moss Bros hire site is expected to launch this quarter. These are exciting developments because it will enable the company to tap into its huge database of customers in a smarter way, which should boost cross-selling opportunities, generate incremental sales and offer customers a 'click and collect' service on the hire side.

Store refits are clearly helping as 24 of the 132 stores have been spruced up in the 12 months to the end of January 2013. On average, the refurbished units see a sales uplift of around 8 per cent. The plan is to refit 90 stores at a cost of £11m in the next four to five years. Interestingly, around 45 per cent of the estate is facing lease expiries in the next three years, which is playing into the company's hands given the weak retail environment. In fact, of the stores facing expiry this year, the average reduction negotiated by Moss Bros on the rent bill has been around 17 per cent and that's after management has stipulated break clauses at five or even two years on new leases.

True, this progress has not been lost on investors as shares in Moss Bros have soared in the past year. But strip out a healthy cash pile estimated to be £24.6m at the end of January 2013, worth 25p a share, from the company's £69.5m market value, and the business is being valued on a miserly five times broker Peel Hunt's current-year cash profit estimate of £9.5m.

Shares going ex-dividend on 20 March

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.