Week ahead in business and economics: April 22 - 25

However, February’s larger-than-expected deficit, combined with weaker tax receipts in January, mean even the most optimistic forecasters expect a slight full-year overshoot of the current £107.8bn target, even though the March deficit is expected to fall.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England will release minutes from its latest policy meeting. The Bank voted unanimously this month to keep interest rates on hold and asset purchases at £375bn, though the fall in unemployment last week to below 7pc is likely to make future meetings more exciting.

Retail sales data on Friday are expected to show a slight dip in sales, following a strong performance in February.

Tuesday April 22

Full-year results None scheduled

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update Genel Energy

Economics Bank of England lending trends report published

Meetings None scheduled

Wednesday April 23

ARM investors will be seeking reassurance from the first quarter after the battering technology stocks have taken in the past two weeks. The microchip designer’s own shares have been on a good run, however, and are up more than 6pc in the past month, in spite of a couple of sharp single-day falls more recently. The gains have been driven by series of positive re-ratings by analysts, most of whom now list ARM as a “buy”, based on its dominance of the market for efficient mobile processor designs. There looks to be plenty of growth left in ARM as it diversifies from high-end smartphones to televisions, servers and wearable technology. Profits are expected to increase 16pc this year.

Why did Mike Ashley dump more than £200m of shares in Sports Direct earlier this month? Sports Direct will give an update on trading, so the City may get some sort of answer to these questions from the notoriously low-profile retailer. Analysts at Jefferies expect the company to report sales growth of 10pc for the last three months in the pre-close update, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation up 17pc to £310m.

Full-year results None scheduled

Interim results Associated British Foods, Fenner, Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies, Smiths News

Trading update ARM Holdings, Carpetright, Creston, Hammerson, Moneysupermarket.com, Record, Reed Elsevier, Spirent Communications, Sports Direct International, STV Group

Economics CBI Industrial trends survey, Monetary Policy Committee minutes and agents reports released, public sector net cash requirement and public sector net borrowing released, property transactions for March

Meetings Genel Energy (AGM), Herald Investment Trust (AGM)

Thursday April 24

AstraZeneca’s first-quarter figures have been overshadowed by reports that US rival Pfizer has been looking at a possible £60bn bid. After a difficult few years of patent expiries on some of its top products, allowing competitors to flood the market with cheap copies, Astra is executing a turnaround plan focusing on five key growth areas – diabetes, emerging markets, heart attack drug Brilinta, Japan, and respiratory. Analysts will be closely watching for an update on sales of diabetes drug Farixga, which was recently launched in the US.

Full-year results Camelia, Puricore

Interim results Spirit Pub Company

Trading update AMEC, AZ Electronic Materials, African Barrick Gold, Anglo American, Anglo Platinum, AstraZeneca, Berendsen, Cobham, Computacenter, Croda International, Delphi Automotive, Henderson Group, Mecom Group, Pace, Premier Foods, Senior, Travis Perkins, Unilever

Economics CBI survey of distributive trades

Meetings Dragon Oil (AGM), Drax Group (AGM), Hammerson (AGM), Management Consulting Group (AGM), MoneySupermarket.com (AGM), Spirent Communications (AGM), STV Group (AGM)

Friday April 25

Shares in Britain’s biggest bookmaker, William Hill, have fallen more than 8pc since the Chancellor’s shock announcement in the Budget of a new higher 25pc rate of duty for fixed odds betting terminals. Bookies are also facing the prospect of the horseracing betting levy being extended to wagers taken through their offshore online businesses, while the sector is preparing for the introduction of a 15pc “point of consumption tax”.

As a result, William Hill’s first-quarter results are expected to be a pretty glum affair. Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect earnings before interest and taxes to slump by a staggering 18pc. Any comments from the bookie’s chief executive, Ralph Topping, are likely to be scrutinised for signs of how the sector plans to deal with the triple whammy of taxation coming its way.

Full-year results Harvey Nash Group

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update Aon, Colt Group, Rotork, Spectris, William Hill, WPP

Economics BBA lending report, Retail sales for March

Meetings African Barrick Gold (AGM), SThree (AGM), Anglo American (AGM), Pace (AGM), Aggreko (AGM and EGM), AstraZeneca (AGM), Barclays (AGM), Beale (AGM), Berendsen (AGM), Cobham (AGM), Croda International (AGM), Elementis (AGM), LSL Property (AGM), Molins (AGM), Pearson (AGM), Reed Elsevier (AGM), Rotork (AGM), Rowan Companies (AGM), Senior (AGM), Spectris (AGM), SkyePharma (EGM)

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