Friday preview: William Hill, Rank Group
Ladbrokes weighed in Thursday with its third quarter trading update and on Friday it will be the turn of perennial rival William Hill to report on its progress down the back straight.
Ladbrokes weighed in Thursday with its third quarter trading update and on Friday it will be the turn of perennial rival William Hill to report on its progress down the back straight.
Panmure Gordon is expecting a resilient performance despite a higher than usual number of race meeting cancellations during the reporting period; better than expected football results will help offset this.
"The next catalysts will be the outcome of the approach to Sportingbet and whether or not the group elects to exercise its call option to acquire Playtech's shareholding in William Hill Online," the broker said.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Sticking with the gambling theme, casinos operator Rank Group will give an interim management statement covering the third quarter of 2012 - the second quarter of its financial year.
The group is still reeling from its proposed acquisition of Gala Casinos being referred to the Competition Commission back in August.
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI), Barr (A.G.), Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure Sicav S.A.(DI), Christie Group, Computacenter, CRH, G4S, Glanbia, International Public Partnerships Ltd., John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd, Melrose, Networkers International, Petrofac Ltd., Playtech Ltd., Robert Walters, Serco Group, Total Produce, Treatt, Tribal Group, Witan Pacific Inv Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Payments (EU) (09:00)
Balance of Trade (EU) (10:00)
Current Account (EU) (09:00)
Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)
Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)
Q3
Schlumberger Ltd.
IMSS
Aggreko, Petrofac Ltd., Provident Financial, Rank Group, William Hill
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Highland Gold Mining Ltd.
AGMS
Argos Resources Ltd. (DI), Brooks Macdonald Group, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, PME African Infrastructure Opportunities
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Public Sector Finances (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
City of London Investment Group, Dart Group, TP70 2008 (I) VCT, TP70 2008 (II) VCT, Tricorn Group, Utilico Investments Ltd (DI)
JH
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
-
Trump wants to colonise Mars – will it happen?
Donald Trump wants to plant the US flag on Mars. Could humans really live there?
By Simon Wilson
-
Klarna postpones US IPO as Trump's tariffs rattle markets
Buy-now-pay-later lender Klarna has postponed its US initial public offering owing to the market turbulence. It is not alone, says Matthew Partridge
By Dr Matthew Partridge