THUS and Scottish Radio Holdings are the Scottish stocks updating the market with interim and full-year numbers respectively this week. They are joined by heavyweights including J Sainsbury, Emap and Vodafone.
Thus
The corporate telecoms provider lost nearly a third of its value in September after warning of lower first-half profit, hit by predatory pricing in a saturated market. Investors will be hoping for a more positive update when the Glasgow-based company reports first-half numbers today. Analysts are expecting a consensus in underlying earnings of (pounds) 39.2m.
Emap
The media group has pointed to forward advertising books for the second half above the levels seen in the first six months, with radio advance bookings up by 10% in October and business-to-business display advertising continuing to strengthen.
The City is expecting first-half, pre-tax profits of (pounds) 95m, compared with (pounds) 94m last time.
Vodafone
The mobile giant's shareholders will be hoping for news of a bumper payday tomorrow, when the mobile phone group is expected to use half-year results to elaborate on how it intends to enhance investor returns.
Broker Charles Stanley believes there could be a doubling in the half-year dividend to 1.9p a share, while net income will hold steady at (pounds) 3.25bn.
The group may also provide further guidance on its hopes for third-generation after launching the services with much fanfare last week.
MMO2
The City will be eager to find out whether mobile phone group mmO2 will use its interim results on Wednesday to reward investors with the first dividend since its split from British Telecom three years ago.
The results are expected to reflect robust trading after an update in September showed revenues ahead of expectations as it added more customers and raked in more income per user.
City brokerage Gerrard is expecting pre-tax profits to come in at (pounds) 255m, compared with (pounds) 133m last time, with particularly strong growth from O2 Germany.
J Sainsbury
Half-year results from the ailing supermarket chain have been the subject of so much speculation in recent weeks that their final publication on Wednesday will come as little surprise to investors.
Chief executive Justin King has already signalled profits of between (pounds) 125m and (pounds) 135m, down substantially on a year earlier following a string of profits warnings.
King unveiled his strategy for reviving the business last month and is not expected to provide any further update on current trading. His recipe for reviving the group is based around tackling the supply chain problems that have often left supermarkets short of products.
Scottish Radio Holdings
The Glasgow-based media company reported in September that year revenues were up 15% and the immediate outlook for its radio and press businesses was encouraging.
Much of the focus is again likely to be on whether it has a long-term future as an independent, or whether bigger rival, and biggest shareholder, Emap, will make a swoop to acquire the whole company.
Consensus forecasts for full-year, pre-tax profit are (pounds) 19.1m.
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