The Week Ahead: HSBC investors bracedfor bad news on loans

Suggested Topics

Today

The banks' reporting season continues with HSBC's full-year results today, and although Shore Capital's Gary Greenwood believes the self-anointed "world's local bank" will have enjoyed strong growth in emerging markets, he says this will be "offset by a reduction in developed markets, largely reflecting a smaller US balance sheet and weaker investment banking revenues".

Given that in November HSBC announced that loan impairments had seen a £1bn quarter-on-quarter jump, the analyst feels the latest on this will be the main issue for investors.

"We will also be looking to see how HSBC is progressing with its strategic plan to restructure the group to be more focused on growth markets and markets where it has a strong incumbent position," he adds.

Results/Updates: Associated British Foods, Bovis Homes, Bunzl, Cookson, Dialight, Essar Energy, Hiscox, HSBC, Keller, Pearson, Senior, Staffline, Ultra Electronics and WSP Group.

Tomorrow

Whitbread announces its pre-close update on Tuesday and the Costa Coffee-owner will be hoping the reaction will not be a repeat of when it released its last statement back in December. Then, the leisure giant's share price was knocked by its admission that sales growth had slowed, although it still said full-year results would meet expectations.

Panmure Gordon notes that recent data from both the restaurant and hotel sectors has been mixed, and believes that any risks to the market's forecasts for the following financial year are on the downside. The broker predicts pre-tax profits for the next 12 months of £346m, but notes that if revenues per available room at its Premier Inn business see a 1.2 per cent fall, this would drop to £325m.

Results/Updates: AZ Electronic Materials, Craneware, CRH, Elementis, GKN, moneysupermarket.com, Perform, Persimmon, Petra Diamonds, Promethean, Provident Financial, Rotork, SDL, Serco, United Business Media and Whitbread.

Wednesday

The last of the UK-listed banks to report their final results, Standard Chartered announced a detail update in December, when it predicted it would manage a record profit, so there are unlikely to be any major shocks on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley's Chris Manners believes that although the group's income and profit from India will be weak, strong performance in countries including Hong Kong, Singapore and China will more than make up for this.

Results/Updates: Capital & Counties Properties, Carillion, Helphire, Henderson, International Airlines Group, International Personal Finance, Interserve, ITV, Lavendon, National Express, Restaurant Group, RSM Tenon, Sportingbet, Standard Chartered, Taylor Wimpey and Weir Group.

Thursday

With Spirent's preliminary results out on Thursday, Deutsche Bank believes that following encouraging results from its peers, the telecoms testing group could beat forecasts. The broker's analysts predict that fourth-quarter revenues will have risen by 5 per cent from the previous three months to $136m, while they believe the company will point to a gradual improvement in customer spending over the current financial year.

Man Group has mounted something of a rally since its trading statement in January, before which its share price had more than halved in under four months. The hedge fund giant will hope it can keep rising after announcing its nine-month figures on Thursday, and given that Man has already said it expects an adjusted pre-tax profit of $257bn, RBC's analysts expects few surprises.

Results/Updates: Derwent London, Fiberweb, Hardy Underwriting, Howden Joinery, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Kazakhmys, Man Group, Office2office, Robert Walters, Spirent, Stagecoach, UNITE, WPP and Xchanging.

Friday

Rentokil Initial's troubled courier unit City Link will once again be in focus on Friday when the rat catcher posts its preliminary results. Numis Securities' Mike Murphy is expecting the business to post a loss of £24m, and says that, although early in the year, investors will be "looking for guidance that the issues at the operation have been sorted".

Results/Updates: BBA Aviation, IMI, Jardine Matheson, Laird and Rentokil Initial.

ECONOMICS DIARY

TODAY: US pending home sales.

TOMORROWL CBI distributive trades survey; Eurozone business confidence; Eurozone consumer confidence; US consumer confidence; US durable goods orders.

WEDNESDAY: Consumer credit; GfK consumer confidence; Lending trends; M4 money supply; Mortgage approvals; US beige book; US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke speaks to Congress;US Q4 GDP (second estimate).

THURSDAY: Manufacturing PMI;US initial jobless claims;US manufacturing ISM;US personal spending.

FRIDAY: Construction PMI;Eurozone PPI.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

The 50 Best beachwear

The 50 Best beachwear

The hottest summer gear for men and women
Still standing: George Galloway reveals why his staunchly Leftist outlook is still invariably right

Still standing: George Galloway

Written off, ridiculed, wrongly accused of taking bribes the honourable member for Bradford West, has never bowed to the critics.
How will Daniel Radcliffe's fans react to his latest turn - as a damaged, drug-taking Beatnik poet?

Daniel Radcliffe as drug-taking Beatnik poet

His decade as the boy wizard may be over, but that hasn't hexed Daniel Radcliffe's enchanted life.
For whom the bell tolls: £20m 'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset's Jurassic coast

'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset coast

It started as a stonemason's visionary idea – to commemorate all the species that have ever existed and are now extinct.
Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Turkish cuisine is perfect for those long, sociable weekend meals with friends. It's just a shame that money can't buy the key ingredient.
Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects is quite the mystery

Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects

To others, they're junk. To David Usborne, they are his life: useful gizmos, mysterious thingamajigs and anonymous articles that dominate his home.
The iron ore lady: Why the world's richest woman is mired in controversy

World's richest woman: Gina Rinehart

Family feuds, attempts to control the Australian media and bitter public disputes are keeping the mining magnate in the headlines.
We just click: How Lego keeps building on its success

How Lego keeps building on its success

This year, Lego announced record profits. Gerard Gilbert visits its Denmark HQ.
The other bits: Mark Hix creates delicious and economical meals with cheaper cuts of meat

Mark Hix cooks with cheaper cuts of meat

Our chef creates delicious and economical meals on a budget
Strokes of genius: How to create summer's bold make-up look

Strokes of genius: Summer's bold make-up

From coral lips to fly-away fringes, make-up artist Kim Brown and hair stylist Richard Scorer reveal how to create the look
Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses

Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy

The perfumer creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses
Photo essay: Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Photo essay
The top five E3 2012 triumphs: From Ubisoft's suite of titles to Dishonored and The Last of Us

The top five E3 2012 triumphs

The games and moments that left us grinning like the Cheshire Cat
The green movement at 50: Can the world be saved?

Can the world be saved?

Population growth and climate change are the big problems facing the earth in the next 50 years. But are there any solutions?
France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

In the beautiful Rhone delta, John Lichfield visits a village where a dangerous new political landscape is taking shape