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MONDAY
Results: Bank of Ireland, Hammerson, Fitbit.
Indicators: UK housing prices (Feb), mortgage approvals (Jan); US new home sales (Jan).
TUESDAY
Results: Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Dalata Hotel Group, FBD Holdings, Persimmon, Virgin Money Holdings.
Indicators: Irish unemployment (Feb); euro zone loan growth (Jan); services, industrial and economic sentiment (Feb), consumer inflation expectations (Feb), business confidence (Feb); German inflation (Feb); US house price index (Dec), consumer confidence (Feb).
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Meetings: Dublin BIC sales Funding and Scaling Series (Marker Hotel, Grand Canal Square, Dublin).
WEDNESDAY
Results: Horizon Pharma, Mylan, Amadeus IT Group, Buzzi Unicem, Kuehne + Nagel, Taylor Wimpey, Travis Perkins, Wienerberger, Analog Devices, Office Depot.
Indicators: Irish retail sales (Jan); euro zone inflation (Feb); UK consumer confidence (Feb); German unemployment (Feb), consumer confidence (Mar); US corporate profits (Q4), GDP (Q4).
Meetings: Logicalis showcases NetApp Next Generation Hyper Converged Infrastructure to Irish enterprises (Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin); GDPR Time is Running Out seminar (Merrion Hotel, Merrion Street Upper, Dublin).
THURSDAY
Results: AIB Group, Bovis Homes, Grafton Group, CRH, Greencoat, Howden Joinery, Barnes & Noble, Gap, Sotheby's.
Indictors: Irish manufacturing PMI (Feb), overseas travel (Jan); euro zone unemployment (Jan); manufacturing PMI (Feb); UK net lending to individuals (Jan), mortgage lending (Jan), manufacturing PMI (Feb); German import prices (Jan), manufacturing PMI (Feb); US manufacturing PMI (Feb), vehicle sales (Feb).
Meetings: Independent News and Media egm (The Alex Hotel, Dublin); Brexit 1 Year On free seminar by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce (InterContinental Hotel, Dublin ).
AIB’s full-year results
AIB’s full-year results on Thursday mark the first annual reporting since the bank refloated. Just less than 29 per cent of the bank is now held privately, and so the majority of dividend payouts, expected to be just over €300 million, will benefit the State.
"I think the big focus will be on dividends and how much they are. They paid a dividend last year but it was a one-off kick-starter, and this will be the normal process," said Investec equity analyst Owen Callan.
AIB has done a lot to reduce its non-performing loans (NPLs) and is looking to shed more by early this year. In terms of tracker mortgages, the bank had €190 million in provisions to deal with costs and compensation, and while more customers than initially expected have been discovered, this isn’t expected to have much of an additional impact.
“It would be important to see that there is no significant increase in the provisions set aside to deal with the tracker mortgages,” said Mr Callan.
Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland’s full-year results on Monday are expected to illustrate further progress. Davy expects the bank to demonstrate ongoing reductions in NPLs, an increase in new lending activity and the resumption of normal dividends. In a note it forecast attributable profit of €546 million for 2017, with underlying profit before tax of €979 million.
After a turbulent period in the boardroom of Independent News & Media, shareholders will hope that a company egm on Thursday will mark an opportunity to draw a line.
The meeting has been called to confirm the appointment of four new non-executive directors. Outgoing chairman Leslie Buckley described the appointments as an effort to "restore the board to full strength and to ensure that the board and its key committees (audit and risk, nomination and corporate governance and remuneration) have the appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge, to enable them to discharge their respective duties and responsibilities effectively".
John Bateson, Fionnuala Duggan, Murdoch MacLennan and Séamus Taaffe will be formally proposed.
The board has undergone significant changes since the company's agm last August. Former chief executive Robert Pitt has departed, along with David Harrison, Allan Marshall and, of course, Mr Buckley.
The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement launched an investigation following a whistleblower complaint made by Mr Pitt against Mr Buckley arising from an aborted bid for Newstalk.
FRIDAY
Results: LafargeHolcim, Mondi, JC Penney, Revlon.
Indicators: euro zone PPI (Jan); UK construction PMI (Feb); German retail sales (Jan); US unemployment and non-farm payrolls (Feb).
Meetings: Annual Entrepreneur Experience for access to 24 of Ireland's most successful business leaders (Ballymaloe, Cork).