Week ahead in business and economics: May 27-30

Trading update Anglo-Eastern Plantations, IG Group Holdings

Economics UK BBA mortgage approvals; Bank of England governor Mark Carney speech in London

Meetings AGMs: accesso Technology Group, Barr, Coalfield Resource, Highland Gold Mining, Mallett EGMs: Johnston Press, LMS Capital, Private Equity Investor

Wednesday May 28

Full-year results Caledonia Investments, De La Rue, Iomart Group, McKay Securities, Scapa Group, Telford Homes, Torotrak

Interim results Brewin Dolphin Holdings

Trading update Seadrill Partners

Economics UK CBI distributive trades survey for May; Eurozone business confidence and consumer confidence for May

Meetings AGMs: Arrow Global Group, Bank of Georgia Holdings, EnQuest PLC, Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust, Styles & Wood Group, Travis Perkins EGM: Styles & Wood Group

Thursday May 29

The outlook has been sour for Tate & Lyle in 2014 due to concerns that the price it can charge for sucralose, its artificial sweetener, will fall. Shares in Tate are down 15pc so far this year. The company will post annual results this week with analysts at Panmure Gordon pencilling in a 0.6pc drop in pre-tax profits to £325m. The analysts said: “Bulk ingredients profits are expected to fall due to a poor soft beverage season in the US and lower co-product returns. Speciality food ingredients saw sales growth in line with the market, with good growth in emerging markets and Europe partially offset by weakness in the US. However, profit growth has been constrained by a more competitive sucralose market, due to a significant overhang of Chinese supply.”

The DIY retailer Kingfisher will update on trading during the last three months, with warmer weather in the UK likely to have helped sales. Industry data has suggested a surge in UK retail sales, with the Office of National Statistics claiming that sales grew 6.9pc in April, the strongest increase for a decade. Kingfisher owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, although sales in France – where it owns Castorama and Brico Depot – have been sluggish. B&Q recorded a 0.1pc increase in like-for-like sales for the year to end of the January, its first growth in sales for four years.

Shares in PayPoint have almost doubled in the last two years, and investors will be seeking more evidence of growth when the payments processing business reports full-year results. The company operates a range of services from paying electricity bills at convenience stores to paying for parking via mobile phones, and has also seen growth through CollectPlus, its joint venture parcel collection service for picking up online deliveries at local stores. The business has benefited from the rising number of shoppers choosing to “click and collect”, and has announced plans to expand its store network by a third to 7,500 stores. Analysts at Numis expect PayPoint’s profits to rise from £41m to £48m, with net revenues rising from £106m to £117m.

Full-year results Helical Bar, PayPoint, Severn Trent, Tate & Lyle

Interim results Future, Local Shopping REIT, Medicx Fund

Trading update Kingfisher

Economics Help to Buy data

Meetings AGMs: F&C Private Equity Trust, Lookers, Middlefield Canadian Income, North American Income Trust, Office2office, Parity Group, Smart Metering Systems EGM: Rexam

Friday May 30

Full-year results Caffyns

Interim results None scheduled

Trading update F&C Private Equity Trust

Economics UK GfK consumer confidence for May

Meetings AGM: Capital & Regional, Polyus Gold International EGM: Trifast

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