Week Ahead: 19-23 August

Monday 19 August

Interims: Amlin, Bovis Homes, Clarkson, Kingspan, Quindell Portfolio

AGM: Northacre

EGM: Central Rand Gold

Economics: Rightmove house prices data

Lloyd's insurer Amlin (AML) reports half-year figures on Monday and investors will be looking to see whether the company has been hit - as a number of its rivals have - with claims arising from recent catastrophes, such as floods in Canada and tornadoes in Oklahoma. The release is also likely to be scrutinised for evidence of premium rate pressure after peers recently reported softening rates on some lines - although, overall, rates do still remain at highly profitable levels. In today's low investment environment, investors shouldn't expect too much from Amlin's investment investment book, either - that's largely placed in cash and bonds. Indeed, rival Lloyd's insurers have seen their investment returns tumble in the half. Still, Amlin is a high-quality underwriter and broker Numis Securities forecasts a highly profitable 86.8 per cent the full-year combined ratio (of claims to premiums), with a pre-tax profit of £280m and net tangible assets (NTA) of 294p a share. But the shares - at 400p - trade on a fairly demanding 1.4 times forecast NTA and there are better income plays in the sector. Hold.

Tuesday 20 August

Interims: Cairn Energy, CRH, Glencore Xstrata, James Fisher & Sons, John Menzies, John Wood, NMC Health, Persimmon, TT Electronics, Velti

Final: BHP Billiton

AGM: Falkland Island Holdings

Persimmon (PSN) releases half-year results on Tuesday and the housebuilder has already indicated that turnover in the first half rose by a solid 12 per cent to £900m, with legal completions up 7 per cent to 5,022. Visitor numbers grew 13 per cent, too, boosted by the government’s help to buy scheme, as well as a steady reduction in mortgage rates. Indeed, before help to buy was introduced, weekly private reservation sales grew 12 per cent before - but that's since accelerated by 30 per cent, with the company having received 1,124 help to buy reservations so far. Average selling prices in the first half rose from £171,206 to £179,200 as well, although this reflected a change in the sales mix towards more large family houses and underlying prices were flat. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch are forecasting full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £293m, giving EPS of 74.5p (2012: £225m/56.8p in 2012). Persimmon remains on target to pay £1.9bn in dividends by 2021 and while the shares - at 1,239p - are up strongly on our buy tip (881p, 25 February 2013), the strong growth momentum, and the hefty prospective yield, leave us reiterating our advice. Buy.

Wednesday 21 August

Interims: Ark Therapeutics, Glanbia, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Hochschild Mining, STV

AGM: James Latham

Economics: Public sector borrowing figures, Confederation of British Industry trends data - total orders and selling prices

Thursday 22 August

Interims: Carillion, Costain, IMI, Kazakhmys, London Capital, London Mining, New World Resources, Phoenix, Premier Oil, Primary Health Properties, Sopheon, Sportech, Vitec

AGM: Praetorian Resources

Friday 23 August

Interims: Afren, Berendsen

Economics: British Bankers' Association data on loans for house purchases, Second-quarter GDP figures, Index of services of June, Second-quarter total business investment 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.