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Wednesday preview: BHP Billiton, Aggreko, Serco
Thu, 09 Feb, 2012
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Wednesday preview: BHP Billiton, Aggreko, Serco
Tue, 24 Aug 2010, 16:01:00
<b>BHP Billiton </b>brings out full-year figures on Wednesday that are likely to be overshadowed by the company's £26bn pursuit of fertiliser company <b>Potash</b>. All sorts of rumours are flying around about possible rival suitors for Potash and most pundits believe the Anglo-Australian mining giant will have to lift its offer to capture the Canadian company, which could put a strain on its balance sheet. As such, analysts will be keeping a keen eye out for the company's debt situation in Wednesday's figures. Temporary power solutions provider <b>Aggreko </b>is one of the best performing FTSE 100 constituents over the last year so expectations will be high when it issues its half year results. Charles Stanley thinks pre-tax profits will jump to £130m from £106.9m in the first half of last year, while the interim dividend could be raised to 5.2p from 4.37p. UBS has pencilled in £560m as the figure for Aggreko's first half revenues, but is less optimistic than Charles Stanley on the pre-tax profits front, going for £122m. "The key focus will be on the level of order intake in Aggreko's international power projects arm, which we expect to have remained strong," UBS said. Charles Stanley concurs that the international power projects (IPP) division is key to the company's fortunes. "In the first half, IPP secured record orders which amounted to 900MW [meagawatts] including 200MW in Bangladesh, 215MW in Indonesia and 180MW in Central & Central America," the broker notes. The market cannot decide whether public sector spending cuts represent a threat or an opportunity for outsourcing companies. In all probability it varies from company to company, and it is a fairly decent bet that <b>Serco </b>will claim in tomorrow's interim results that it intends to be in the camp that benfits from the government's drive to cut costs. At the end of June, a full month after the new government's emergency Budget, the company said it remained on track to hit its financial targets for the year. "With a large amount of business generated from government based contracts, the share price has been weak over the last three months on concerns about the effects of UK government spending cutbacks. The UK government's spending review is not due to be completed until October but Serco should have a clear view on any impact form changes when it publishes its interim results," notes broker Charles Stanley. The broker is predicting interim pre-tax profits of £110m, up from £92.3m last year. Panmure Gordon is not expecting too many surprises from the figures in the wake of the late-June trading update. "Contract momentum this year has been good," it notes, though there are concerns over UK public sector spending, pressures on margins and the possibility of changes to contract payment terms. It is forecasting profit before tax of £104m. It expects net debt at the half-year point to be around £335m, on its way down to a projected £256m by the end of the year. INTERIMS Admiral Group, Aggreko, Ark Therapeutics, Arriva, Avengardco Investments GDR , Axis-Shield, Bank BPH GDR (Reg S), Chime Communications, Clarkson, Costain Group, FBD Holdings, Forth Ports, Glanbia, Johnston Press, Paddy Power, Pinewood-Shepperton, Serco Group, Severfield-Rowen, SIG, Talvivaara Mining Company, Tullow Oil, UK Coal, Vislink INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Microgen INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE BBA Aviation, Brewin Dolphin, Catlin Group, Delcam, Downing Distribution VCT 1, Eurasian Natural Resources, Fidessa, First Quantum Minerals, Henderson Opportunities Trust, InterContinental Hotels Group, London Capital Group, Maven Income and Growth VCT 4, Maven Income and Growth VCT 4 'S' Shares, Mondi, Morant Wright Japan Income Trust, Patsystems, Puma VCT I, Puma VCT II, Puma VCT III, Puma VCT IV, Rights & Issues Inv Trust Income Shares, ROK, SPARK VCT, SPARK VCT 2, United Business Media, Witan Inv Trust, Xaar QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE M&G High Income & Growth Units, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income Shares QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Canaccord Financial Inc., Premier Energy & Water Trust INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00) IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00) IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30) New Homes Sales (US) (15:00) House Price Index (US) (15:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) Job Seekers Net Change (FRA) (17.00) Q2 Bank BPH GDR (Reg S), Talvivaara Mining Company GMS Crosby Asset Management FINALS BHP Billiton, Monitise AGMS Aberdeen New Dawn Inv Trust, Coral Products, Creightons, Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities EUR Shares, Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities GBP Shares, Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities USD Shares, Infrastructure India, Latham (James), Livermore Investments, Park Plaza Hotels, Speymill Group, Ten Alps FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Halma FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'B' Shares, Intelek, Park Group, PHSC, Spice
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