The Week Ahead: Time to find out if Bovis struck gold

Today

Back in February, Bovis Homes' boss David Ritchie suggested the property market could get a boost from the Olympics providing "a feel-good factor". Today the City should find out whether this has proved true, as the group becomes the first housebuilder to issue results post-London 2012.

Bovis' most recent update only came out last month, so its figures for the first half of the year should contain "few surprises", according to Panmure Gordon. Analysts from the broker are expecting "a robust set" of numbers that demonstrate "excellent progress on new site openings and improved overhead recovery".

During the first six months of last year Amlin suffered a pre-tax loss of £192m as the Lloyd's of London insurers were hit by a high level of natural catastrophe claims. The company's figures for the first half of 2012 should therefore show a major year-on-year improvement – JP Morgan Cazenove is expecting profits before tax of £163m.

Results/Updates: Amlin and Bovis Homes.

Tomorrow

Glencore's half-year results on Tuesday should, unsurprisingly, see the spotlight continue to shine on its attempts to merge with Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata, with investors still waiting to find out whether the commodities trader will bow to pressure and increase the current terms on the table.

In terms of the numbers, the scribblers from Société Gé*érale are predicting Glencore will announce a net income for the period of $1.7bn (£1bn) – that would be not much less than a third lower than what the company managed over the first six months of last year.

Also in the spotlight on Tuesday will be Afren, which will be releasing its first-half figures. A major issue for punters in the West Africa-focused energy explorer will be its production figures for the six months, and Melanie Savage from UBS believes it will "comfortably reiterate" its output forecast for the full 12 months of an average of between 42,000 and 46,000 barrels of oil a day.

Results/Updates: Afren, CPP Group, Ferrexpo, Gem Diamonds, Glencore International, H&T Group, IP Group, James Fisher & Sons, Johnston Press, John Wood Group, Persimmon, Severfield-Rowen, Source BioScience and UK Commercial Property Trust.

Wednesday

Carillion unveils its interim results on Wednesday, and the builder is expected by Numis Securities' Howard Seymour to reveal a small drop in profits. This, he says, will be on falling revenues, thanks partly to its planned scaling back on construction work in the UK, although the company's margins should show the benefit.

Results/Updates: BHP Billiton, Carillion, Clarkson, Derwent London, Hochschild Mining, Kenmare Resources, Melrose Resources, Soco International, Spirax-Sarco, TT Electronics and Vitec.

Thursday

Investors will be hoping that Diageo gives them something to toast when the Guinness brewer releases its preliminary results on Thursday.

Pointing out that at the time of its third-quarter update the group was "well on track" to meet its full-year guidance, Investec's analysts predict that it will have delivered on its medium-term targets, which include organic revenue growth of 6 per cent.

In terms of Diageo's performance region-by-region, they expect a fall of 1.1 per cent in organic net sales in Europe to be more than countered by jumps of 19 per cent in the Latin America and Caribbean region and 10.7 per cent in Africa.

Results/Updates: Aegis, AZ Electronic Materials, Costain, Diageo, Genel Energy, IMI, Kazakhmys, London Mining, New World Resources, Petropavlovsk, Phoenix Group, Premier Oil, SIG, Signet Jewelers, Sportech, STV Group and WH Smith.

Friday

When it last updated the market back in July, oven-maker Aga Rangemaster admitted its first-half profits had fallen year-on-year - thanks largely to weak trading in Ireland - and the Square Mile will find out by just how much on Friday when the Aim-listed group announces its interim results.

Results/Updates: AGA Rangemaster, Berendsen and Henry Boot.