Nick Raynor, investment adviser at retail stockbroker, The Share Centre, gives his thoughts on what to expect from companies announcing results this week.

Monday 2 August 2010

Hammerson - Interim results

Hammerson is a property company largely based in Europe that has been making adjustments to its portfolio throughout the year. It will be interesting to see if this has any affect on the net asset value of the company and if it has made any improvement to the bottom line figures.
HOLD

Intertek - Interim results

Intertek has benefitted from several broker upgrades during July, and analysts will be expecting these figures to reflect the positive sentiment within the market. During the last three months a large privately owned hedge fund has been reducing its stake, and it will be interesting to see if further sales are mentioned in the results.
HOLD

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Xstrata - Interim results

Xstrata is the first of the FTSE 100 mining companies reporting this week. We expect production figures to have received a boost this year, however we will be looking for more clarity over the proposed taxes to be imposed by the Australian government on mining profits.
HOLD

ITV - Interim results

Did the World Cup help improve the company bottom line? and has the reduction of new programming and changing in leadership helped to turn the company fortunes around? It will also be interesting to see if ITV have any views on the recent sale of Channel 5 and if we are likely to see any impact going forward.
BUY

Fresnillo - Interim results. HOLD.

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Lloyds Banking Group - Interim results

Having passed the recent stress tests, Lloyds Banking Group will update the market and hopefully the figures will push the share price higher for battered investors. Lloyds have been selling off non-core assets and no doubt more will follow. The share price has seen a significant increase recently, so there could be more calls for the government to start selling its stake and relinquish its holding on the company.
HOLD

Next - Q2 trading statement
 
Clothing retailers are said to have benefitted from the sizzling British summer and we expect these results from Next to reflect that. High street spending has soared as interest rates remain at an all time low. The share price is now close to 2007 highs and is still progressing steadily. We currently list Next as a ‘hold' but may consider changing our opinion upon hearing these results.
HOLD

Standard Chartered - Interim results. HOLD.
British Land - Q1 Results. BUY.

Thursday 5 August 2010

Barclays - Interim results

Barclays are our preferred bank within the sector, largely due to the fact that they didn't take a hand out from the UK Government and they are already starting to pay dividends to their shareholders. The results are expected to be reasonable and we cannot see any reason why we would be changing our opinion.
BUY

Aviva - Interim results

Aviva's overall global exposure makes it our preferred play within the Insurance sector. The dividend will come under scrutiny and investors will be hoping that cuts will not be made. Takeover speculation within the sector has waned recently but no doubt there will be rumours again soon.
BUY

Smith & Nephew - Interim results. HOLD.
Randgold Resources - Q2 results. HOLD.
Schroders - Interim results. HOLD.
Cobham - Interim results. HOLD.
Capital Shopping Centres - Interim results. SEL.
Spirent Communications - Interim results. BUY.
RSA - Interim results. SELL.
Rio Tinto - Interim results. HOLD.
Unilever - Q2 Results. HOLD.

 Friday 6 August 2010

Royal Bank of Scotland - Interim results

Similarly to the other UK banks, having successfully passed its stress test Royal Bank of Scotland has seen its share price rise. Investors will be wondering if the government is considering selling some of its stake. The sooner the Government stake can be sold, the sooner investors may start to see a return to dividends. However, until this happens there are other banks that we prefer in the sector.
SELL

Inmarsat - Interim results

There have been few updates from Inmarsat recently and several brokers have downgraded their opinion on the stock. In the past, Inmarsat has predominately produced positive results and we can see no reason for this to change. Speculation that the company could be a takeover target has quietened but we expect this to rear its head again soon.
HOLD

Old Mutual - Interim results. HOLD.