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 at http://announce.ft.com and our daily online news summaries record all key company announcements and business press headlines.
Monday 6 May
May Day Public Holiday: UK markets are closed
Tuesday 7 May
Interim: Numis Corporation
Finals: Iofina, Quindell Portfolio
Trading statements: Aer Lingus, Betfair, easyJet, EOG Resources, Hiscox, HSBC, National Express, Prudential, Telecity Group
AGMs: Futura Medical, Macfarlane Group, Raven Russia, Stratex International
EGM: Hargreaves Services
Economics: British Retail Consortium shop price index, new car registrations
Wednesday 8 May
Interim: Sage Group
Final: J Sainsbury
Trading statements: Costain, CRH, CSR, Drax, Ecofin Water & Power, esure, Fidessa Group, Galliford Try, InterContinental Hotels, Intu Properties, Next, Resolution, Rightmove, Standard Chartered, Tullow Oil, Wetherspoon (JD)
AGMs: BAE Systems, Costain, CRH, Genpact, Hirco, Intu Properties, Lighthouse Group, Melrose Industries, Next, Playtech, Promethean World, Rightmove, Savills, Secure Trust Bank, Standard Chartered, Tullow Oil
Economics: British Retail Consortium like-for-like sales figures
Supermarket J Sainsbury (SBRY) looks set to report decent enough full-year figures on Wednesday. Indeed, from the big four UK supermarkets, J Sainsbury is the most successful at attracting customers and delivering growth. According to retail research specialists, the group has been consistently increasing market share, while rivals have tended to lose share. Moreover, a fourth-quarter trading update in March revealed that like-for-like sales (excluding fuel) for the year had grown by a reasonable 1.8 per cent. Management has said that it's comfortable with consensus pre-tax profit forecasts, too. Going forward, analysts tend to expect Sainsbury to continue to outperform its peers for sales growth - although delivering margin growth will prove tougher as rivals Tesco and Wm Morrison invest more, and online shopping puts pressure on operating margins. Broker Charles Stanley expects full-year pre-tax profit of £748m giving EPS of 29.9p.
Thursday 9 May
Interims: Titon Holdings, United Drug
Final: Experian
Trading statements: Barratt Developments, Beazley, Eurasian Natural Resources, Hammerson, Hardy Oil & Gas, IMI, Kingspan, London Mining, Morgan Sindall, Old Mutual, Pantheon International, Provident Financial, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, SuperGroup, TT Electronics, Tullett Prebon, Wm Morrison Supermarkets
AGMs: Arbuthnot Banking, Aviva, British Polythene Industries, Catlin, Communisis, Datalex, Delcam, Fyffes, Hammerson, Hardy Oil & Gas, Howden Joinery, IMI, Katanga Mining, Kingspan, Morgan Sindall, National Express, Old Mutual, Plant Health Care, Provident Financial, Rio Tinto, Skyepharma, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Sweet Group, TT Electronics, Tullett Prebon, William Hill
Economics: Industrial production data, manufacturing production data, Bank of England interest rate announcement, Bank of England asset purchase target, National Institute of Economic and Social Research GDP estimate for April
Friday 10 May
Interim: TUI Travel
Final: BT
Trading statements: Catlin, Derwent London, Ferrexpo, Morgan Advanced Materials
AGMs: BBA Aviation, Clarke (T), Clarkson, F&C Asset Management, Hutchison China Meditech, Merchants Trust, Morgan Advanced Materials, Ocado Group, Solo Oil
Economics: Trade figures, construction output data
Money's tight and the eurozone is on life support, but that hasn't stopped holidaymakers booking their fortnight in the sun. Indeed, travel agent TUI Travel (TT.) - which reports half-year figures on Friday - expects to reveal both a lower first half loss this year and growth in full-year underlying operating profit that's likely to be towards the "upper end" of its 7-10 per cent target range. TUI has already said that margins and prices improved over the winter, driven by UK and Nordic bookings, and that it has already sold about half its mainstream summer breaks on better terms. TUI's underlying seasonal operating loss should narrow by £20m-£30m from £317m in 2012, says broker Peel Hunt. If it does, full-year adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to jump 12 per cent to £435.4m, giving adjusted EPS of 27.3p, and a forward PE ratio of 11.5, in line with the sector.
Shares going ex-dividend on 8 May
| Company | Dividend(p) | Payment |
| Alent | 5.5 | 13 Jun |
| Antofagasta | 8.3 | 13 Jun |
| Antofagasta | 51.4 | 13 Jun |
| Bilfinger Berger Gbl Infrastructure | 2.75 | 01 Jun |
| Bunzl | 19.4 | 01 Jul |
| Cape | 9.5 | 07 Jun |
| CSR | 5.12 | 31 May |
| Derwent London | 23.75 | 14 Jun |
| EP Global Opps Tst | 3.9 | 31 May |
| European Assets Trust NV | 0.1534 | 31 May |
| Fidessa Group | 45 | 10 Jun |
| Fidessa Group | 24.5 | 10 Jun |
| GlaxoSmithKline | 18 | 11 Jul |
| H&T Group | 8.05 | 07 Jun |
| Henderson Far East Income Trust | 4.1 | 31 May |
| Henderson Group | 5.05 | 31 May |
| Hochschild Mining | 1.95 | 04 Jun |
| IS Solutions | 1 | 31 May |
| James Halstead Group | 2.75 | 07 Jun |
| JD Sports Fashion | 22 | 05 Aug |
| Kingfisher | 6.37 | 17 Jun |
| Kings Arms Yard VCT | 0.5 | 31 May |
| Laird Group | 6.6 | 07 Jun |
| Macfarlane Group | 1.05 | 06 Jun |
| Maven Income & Growth VCT 3 | 3 | 30 May |
| Pendragon | 0.1 | 30 May |
| Regenersis | 0.67 | 07 Jun |
| Rightmove | 14 | 07 Jun |
| Smart (J) Contractors | 0.92 | 03 Jun |
| Spirit Pub | 0.68 | 07 Jun |
| Standard Life Inv Property Incme Trust | 1.133 | 24 May |
| Ted Baker | 18.7 | 14 Jun |
| Unilever | 22.91 | 12 Jun |
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.
