Figures from Bank of Ireland will dominate the Irish corporate agenda this week as analysts look to see how the economic downturn has hurt a sector that has until recently been enjoying a seemingly endless run of record figures. A warning by the bank last month of flat earnings in the six-month period to the end of September should ensure no surprise in the bottom line figures on Thursday; of more interest will be the forecast going forward in an environment where all the major Western central banks this week cut rates by a dramatic 50 basis points.
The bank figures will put the Estimates, being published the same day by Minister for Finance Mr McCreevy, into context. The indications are that, apart from Health, it is going to be a spare Budget for most Departments.
Elsewhere, quarterly results from Hewlett-Packard and especially Dell, also on Thursday, will give some indication of prospects for the technology sector.
Monday
Results: ABN Amro (Q3), Azlan Group (H1), Benetton Group (Q3), Carr's Milling Industries, DCC (H1), Ispat International (Q3), Redbus Interhouse (Q3), Renold (H1).
A.G.M.: Convergence (e.g.m.)
Meetings: Bank of International Settlements G10 meeting (Basel).
Indicators: British producer prices (Oct) and M0 data (Oct).
Others: British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivers address on Europe and the single currency at the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet; International Energy Agency (IEA) to release oil market report for November.
Tuesday
Results: EMAP (H1), Energis (H1), Focus Solutions Group (H1), Galen Holdings, Global Crossing (Q3), Infineon Technologies (Q4), JC Penney (Q1), Kewill Systems (H1), Liberty Media (Q3), Marconi (H1), Northern Foods (H1), Oxford Instruments (H1), Sterling Publishing Group (H1), UBS (Q3), Vodafone (H1), Wal-Mart (Q3).
A.G.M.: Dicom Group.
Indicators: British retail prices (Oct); Japanese retail sales (Sep); French consumer prices (Oct); German current account (Sep), exports (Sep), imports (Sep), trade balance (Sep) and wholesale prices (Oct).
Others: IBEC publishes report on "Investment in Telecoms in Ireland"; NI Engineering and Production Technology exhibition (Kings Hall, Belfast, to Thurs); Bank holiday in Belgium.
Wednesday
Results: Agile Software (Q2), Allianz (Q3), BOC Group, Cable & Wireless (H1), Campbell Soup (Q1), CanWest Global Communications (Q4), Enel (Q3), ENI (Q3), Eyretel (H1), Haslemere (Q3), Helical Bar (H1), Land Securities (H1), Luminar (H1), Reckitt Benckiser (Q3), Repsol (Q3), Siemens (Q4), Sulzer Medica (Q3), Tiffany (Q3).
A.G.M.: Canary Wharf, Domestic & General, Hartest Holdings (e.g.m.), Hurlingham.
Meetings: OPEC ministerial meeting (Vienna); Alexandre Lamfalussy addresses Institute of European Affairs on "The Regulation of European securities Markets - Challenges Ahead"; Seminar on "Campus Companies ... What You Need to Know" (Invent Building, DCU); 3Com seminar for end users (Ballycoolin Ind Est, Dublin); IBEC hosts David Grayson lecture on corporate social responsibility; Smurfit School Alumni Association seminar on "The Celtic Tiger - Laid to Rest or Just Pausing for Breath" (Blackrock, Dublin).
Indicators: Irish non-EU trade (Sep); British unemployment (Oct) and average earnings (Sep); US retail sales (Oct).
Others: Inaugural lecture by Prof Mark Keane, UCD Dept of Computer Science, on "Modelling Mind Matters: From Basic Research to Ireland's IT Future" (UCD Industry Centre); Keynote speech by ECB president Mr Wim Duisenberg on "The introduction of the euro, the accession process and the regions" at the plenary session of European Union Committee of the Regions (Brussels).
Thursday
Results: Agilent (Q4), Bank of Ireland (H1), Burlington Industries (Q4), Capital Radio, Conduit (Q2), Dell (Q3), E.ON (Q3), Gap (Q3), Glenmorangie (H1), Hewlett-Packard (Q4), International Power (Q3), Invensys (H1), McCarthy & Stone, Starbucks (Q1), Telef≤nica (Q3).
A.G.M.: Barratt Developments, Brambles Industries, Manchester & London, Perpetual Japanese, Schroder Japan Growth.
Meetings: Hewlett-Packard seminar on broadband technology (Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin); Irish Society for Information Technology in Agriculture conference on farming in the 21st century (Green Isle Hotel, Dublin); CCP luncheon club lecture by Frank Dick (Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin).
Indicators: British retail sales (Oct); US business inventories (Sep) and Philadelphia Federal Survey (Nov); Italian industrial production (Sep) and GDP (Q3); French trade balance (Sep), industrial production (Sep) and manufacturing output (Sep).
Others: Minister for Finance Mr McCreevy publishes Estimates; Deadline for voluntary disclosure of bogus non-resident accounts.
Friday
Results: Hornby (H1), Xansa (H1).
A.G.M.: Campbell Soup.
Meetings: EU eContent programme seminar (Enterprise Ireland, Dublin).
Indicators: EMU consumer prices (Oct); US consumer prices (Oct), real earnings (Oct) and industrial production (Oct); French employment (Oct); Italian consumer prices (Oct).
