Close Brothers, the banking, securities and asset management firm, issues a trading update on Friday, and followers of the company will be keen to see whether fortunes have picked up for its Securities division.
During the quarter from 1 August 2011 to 31 October the group continued to see good demand for its lending services and delivered another strong performance, but the Securities division was hit by difficult market conditions, with income per bargain at stockbroker Winterflood substantially lower, reflecting significant volatility and a change in mix driven by lower risk appetite amongst retail investors.
The first three weeks of the new year have seen a torrent of updates from retailers, so tomorrow's UK retail sales data should not contain too many surprises. Consensus is for sales in December to have grown 0.6% after falling 0.4% in November.
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INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Acal, British Smaller Companies VCT, Cranswick, London & Associated Properties, MS International
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Personal Assets Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)
Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)
GMS
Nighthawk Energy
EGMS
Air China Ltd.
AGMS
Advanced Power Components, LED International Holdings Ltd (DI)
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Close Brothers Group, Kentz Corporation Ltd., X5 Retail Group NV GDR (Reg S)
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Internet Retail Sales (09:30)
Retail Sales (09:30)
Trends in Lending (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Carr's Milling Industries, Starvest
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