Companies reporting next week

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 19:00 EST, 12 October 2000

Debenhams' new boss will make her debut to the City next week as the department store chain reports full-year results, along with a mix of property, retail, sport and internet banking firms.

Belinda Earl, new chief executive at department store group Debenhams will be in the spotlight when the group announces its full-year results on Tuesday. After the departure of Terry Green last month, the City will want to get a clear impression of someone who up to now has been a relative unknown. Pre-tax profits, while expected be down - at £130m against £138.8m last time - should nevertheless instil confidence against a background of tough market conditions, said stockbroker Greig Middleton.

Housing group Bellway is expected to provide yet more evidence of the slowing housing market - and like many of its contemporaries say it is no bad thing the market has adjusted without busting. Despite the fact Bellway does not have a huge South East of England focus - where the housing sector has been hottest - it should still show it has benefited from the booming market over the past year. Its full-year results on Tuesday are expected to show pre-tax profits around the £85m to £89m mark, compared with £68.2m last time.

A healthy one-off gain from the £12m sale in July of its stake in sportswear maker Fila UK is expected to boost half-year figures at Millets owner Blacks Leisure on Wednesday. But, taking this out of the equation, pre-tax profits are expected to dip to £5m, as against £6.2m last time, amid intense competition on the high street. The City will be looking for clear signs the retailer is expecting the same sort of Christmas lift this year as it saw last year, when like-for-like sales were lifted 8% after a sluggish start.

Half-year results from Homestyle on Wednesday will be the first since the soft furnishings retailer changed its name from Roseby in June and bought rival Harveys Furnishing in July.

The City will be keen to see how integration of this acquisition is going and whether the chain suffered at all from last month's fuel crisis. Pre-tax profits are expected to come in at around £6.4m, compared with £3m last time .

Third-quarter figures from news provider Reuters on Friday are expected to show increased revenue growth of around 11%, compared with 3% at the same point a year ago. Stockbroker Greig Middleton suggests the company's key information products should be showing good figures after a weak 1999, despite turbulence on the US technology-dominated Nasdaq index meaning full-year results are not expected to be as strong as they might. Nevertheless, the City will want to see the group is on course to meet its full-year forecasts of £563m pre-tax profits, against £632m last time.

It's been a tough year at internet bank Egg, which since its flotation at 160p in June has seen its shares slip to as far as 114p and suffer the embarrassment of a high-profile 'cyber bank raid' last month. The City will be watching, then, its latest third quarter figures on Monday with keen interest. Investors will want to see whether either the languishing share price or the raid has dented customer confidence and had any impact on its year-end target of £150m pre-tax losses, unchanged on last year's £149.7m losses.

City watchers are hoping the resurrection of Newcastle United under manager Bobby Robson will pay dividends on the balance sheet as well as on the pitch, when the company reports full-year results on Monday. Last time the club's poor performance was blamed for taking a bite out of earnings and this time the future of the transfer market and the cost of player's wages are likely to be focusing attention. The results were due to be posted this week but shifted a week to Monday, and pre-tax profits are forecast to come in at around £5.7m, compared with £1.4m last time.