The Week Ahead: Glowing report on Dialight’s prospects

Today

Who will shine the brightest when they reveal results this week? Investors in Newmarket–based LED company Dialight will be hoping they have picked a bright spark. Canaccord Genuity thinks so. The analysts think the light-emitting diode lighting specialist will produce growth to exceed 50 per cent in the first half. They think the “high reliability and efficiency of LED lighting” will continue to “drive rapid market adoption and high growth” because it currently only has “market penetration of 1 per cent”. Management expect to be on track for a full-year profit of £24.8m and Canaccord rates it a buy with a 1,450p price target.

Results/Updates: Anglo Platinum, Dialight, Filtronic.

Tomorrow

Premier Foods was in focus last week on vague rumours of bid interest but it will update the market tomorrow with its half-year results. The Hovis-to-Bisto food producer is expected to update on its restructuring of its bread business, its pension and debt situation. Investec rates it a buy with a 95p price target because it thinks the “UK grocery environment is a tad better”. Investec expects it to beat last year’s sales of £633m and trading profit of £32m at the half year.

Results/Updates: Beazley, Carpetright, Croda International, Hogg Robinson, IG Group, Premier Foods, Provident Financial, PZ Cussons, Petropavlovsk, Sage Group, Scapa Group.

Wednesday

GlaxoSmithKline had a terrible week last week when accusations emerged that it has been making bribes in return for business in China. But Morgan Stanley’s scribblers rate the pharmaceutical giant neutral. They increased their price target for the shares to 1,710p ahead of its half-year figures on Wednesday that kick off the second-quarter reporting season for the pharmaceutical giants. Morgan Stanley predicts second-quarter pre-tax profit of £1.7bn. It factors in the planned disposals of Lucozade/Ribena.

Results/Updates: Arm Holdings, GlaxoSmithKline, National Express, Renishaw, APR Energy, British Land, Carphone Warehouse, Close Brothers, Compass Group, easyJet, IQE, Kingfisher, Kofax, PayPoint, Tate & Lyle, JD Wetherspoon.

Thursday

Shares in Unilever fell last week when analysts at Credit Suisse cut their rating for the consumer goods giant to underperform and said “there is a lot that is better today about Unilever than for many a year, but the valuation looks fully up with events to us, in a sector that looks expensive in general”. But scribblers at Deutsche Bank retain their hold rating for the ice-cream to soap and soup maker, and think the half-year results on Thursday will show a healthy performance. They expect margins to rise by 40 basis points.

Results/Updates: Bodycote, Capita, Colt Group, CSR, Cable & Wireless Communications, Daily Mail & General Trust, Euromoney Institutional Investor, Howden Joinery, Fuller Smith & Turner, Great Portland Estates, Hibu, Lancashire Holdings, Nichols, Reed Elsevier, Rolls-Royce, Shire, Travis Perkins, Unilever, ReNeuron, Britvic, BT Group, Invensys, Kazakhmys, Lonmin, Marston’s, Mitchells & Butlers, Polyus Gold International, Qinetiq, SABMiller, Shanks, SSE, Synergy Health, Titon Holdings, Victrex, Workspace.

Friday

The pay-TV group BSkyB has some competition to deal with and its full-year results on Friday will give investors a chance to see how it is dealing with the likes of BT. Roddy Davidson, analyst at Westhouse, said: “The winds of competition are strengthening for BSkyB,” but “its core strengths, including an unrivalled content proposition, loyal subscriber base, culture of innovation and marketing skills” still make it attractive. He thinks dividends will continue to rise at the group. Peel Hunt expects BSkyB to meet market forecasts with sales expected to come in at £7.2bn with a £1.4bn profit.

Results/Updates: Anglo American, British Sky Broadcasting, BG Group, Pearson, Spectris, Immunodiagnostic Systems, KCOM, Torotrak, United Utilities.