Wednesday preview: Man and Wetherspoon
Pubs group JD Wetherspoon gives an update on Wednesday for the second quarter of its financial year, which will cover the hyper-busy Christmas and New year trading period.
Pubs group JD Wetherspoon gives an update on Wednesday for the second quarter of its financial year, which will cover the hyper-busy Christmas and New year trading period.
Panmure Gordon notes the group will be running up against some tough comparative figures from a year ago, but still reckons the group will announce "solid" like-for-like sales growth of around 1% and an operating margin in the region of 9.3%.
Hedge fund manager Man Group will have been glad to have seen the back of 2011, a year in which its share price halved. Unfortunately, the company is still obliged to look back on 2011, starting with an update on Wednesday covering the final three months of the year. RBC reckons Man will have seen an eye-watering $2.3bn outflow of funds in the final quarter of 2011.
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
Switching to the economy, UK unemployment data is out. The consensus expectation is that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate for November will have stabilised at 8.3%, while December's claimant count unemployment is tipped to rise by 7,100. Barclays Capital said it expects earnings growth for December to be unchanged from November.
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Home Retail Group, Hyder Consulting, National Grid
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
ACM Shipping Group, Ashtead Group, Consort Medical, Games Workshop Group, QinetiQ Group
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Caterpillar Inc.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Capacity Utilisation (US) (16:15)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
Industrial Production (US) (16:15)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)
IMSS
Carphone Warehouse Group, Diploma, Findel
AGMS
Character Group, Diploma, Enegi Oil, Lowland Investment Co, Majedie Investments, Tracsis
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hochschild Mining, JD Wetherspoon, Man Group, Tullow Oil
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Claimant Count Rate (09:30)
Unemployment Rate (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Bellway
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Artemis VCT, Cardiff Property, CareTech Holding, Imperial Tobacco Group, Income & Growth VCT , RWS Holdings
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.
-
Dividend heroes: the investment trusts that have increased their dividends for 20+ years
Investment trusts can be a good option for income-focused investors – but which trusts have consistently increased their dividends over the past 20 years?
By Katie Williams Published
-
Six reasons not to top up your state pension
A deadline to buy National Insurance credits and top up your state pension is fast approaching. Here’s why it may not be worth it for some people
By Ruth Emery Published