Diary commentary from FT reporters; data, unless otherwise stated, from Thomson Financial. Company announcements, collated by Thomson StreetEvents, are of information publicly available before last week

MAY 12

● Petrobras, the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, is expected to report a steep rise in first quarter earnings, having postponed its report from last week, writes Ed Crooks.

Profits have been boosted by the rise in the oil price although controls on petrol and diesel prices in Brazil have curbed the increase.

Petrobras is now the second biggest oil company in the Americas by market capitalisation, behind ExxonMobil but ahead of Chevron.

Much of the interest in the company has been in the vast potential of its oil find in the deep waters off Brazil’s coast but Petrobras is not expected to give much further detail today as it is still waiting for important well results to be analysed.

● HSBC is expected to outline further losses to its US mortgage portfolio when the banking group updates investors on its first quarter performance, writes Peter Thal-Larsen.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect HSBC to set aside $15bn (£7.7bn) this year owing to the fall in US house prices. They also predict that provisions will not peak until 2009. The continued losses in the US are likely to contrast with HSBC’s continued strong performance in Asia, where its operations are still booming.

Earnings
Diploma H1, FY estimate 15.42p (13.16p)
Hiscox H1, FY estimate 37.01p (45.82p)
HSBC Q1 $0.95 (-)
MBIA Q1 -$0.19 ($1.48)
Mylan Laboratories Q1 $0.07 ($0.46)
Petrobras Q1 R$- (R$471.00)
RM H1, FY estimate 13.24p (11.66p)
Robert Wiseman Dairies FY 34.55p (32.33p)
Southern Cross Healthcare H1, FY estimate 25.48p (18.66p)
Sprint Nextel Q1 $0.02 ($0.18)

Annual meetings
Centrica
Zetex

Shareholder meetings
International Paper
Tomkins

MAY 13

● Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan, is due to present a new five-year plan for Japan’s second largest carmaker, writes John Reed. This is to come as the company announces its financial results for the fourth quarter and 2007/2008 fiscal year in Tokyo.

Nissan remains one of the global car industry’s most profitable producers but has suffered over the past year in North America, its biggest overseas market, from faltering demand for the pick-up trucks and other large vehicles in its line-up that – like those of its competitors – are falling out of favour among Americans. As with its competitors, it is also struggling with falling demand in Japan.

Investors will be listening for new guidance on
Mr Ghosn’s strategy for
the company, whose
French alliance partner, Renault, is meeting its profitability targets as it rolls out new vehicles and pushes further into emerging markets.

● Enodis, the catering equipment supplier, releases its interim results with expectations of improved profits and revenues at the halfway stage boosted by strong demand in the US from customers such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway, writes Michael Kavanagh.

But the main focus of the day will be on any possible update to the protracted bidding battle for the company.

Last Thursday, Enodis accepted a 282p-a-share takeover offer from Illinois Tool Works of the US, valuing the company at £1.03bn. The offer was at a 8.5 per cent premium to an earlier agreed offer from Manitowoc, the US engineering group.

Enodis shares closed up 44¾p at 288¼p last Thursday, above the 282p offer from ITW – suggesting traders believed that the bidding battle may not yet be over.

Earnings
Applied Materials Q2 $0.22 ($0.34)
Babcock International FY 32.68p (23.33p)
Electronic Arts Q4 $0.00 ($0.06)
Enodis H1, FY estimate 13.78p (12.03p)
Enterprise Inns H1, FY estimate 40.31p (39.63p)
European Capital Q1, FY estimate €1.20 (€0.68)
Invu FY 1.74p (2.01p)
Nissan Motor FY Y114.21 (Y112.33)
Premier Foods H1, FY estimate 17.78p (15.50p)
TeleCity Q1, FY estimate 5.04p (-4.67p)
TUI Travel H1, FY estimate 19.44p (-) Wal-Mart Stores
Q1 $0.75 ($0.68)
Whole Foods Market Q2 $0.30 ($0.32)

Annual meetings
Alliance & Leicester
F&C Asset Management
International Power
Next
Serco Group
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
The Keller Group
Travis Perkins
United Business Media

Shareholder meetings
ARM Holdings
Kraft Foods
Prudential

MAY 14

● J Sainsbury’s place in lights was assured in 2007 when Britain’s third largest supermarket chain was the focus of two bid attempts, writes Elizabeth Rigby.

But analysts are feeling a little underwhelmed ahead of its preliminary results. Space growth plans are modest and the company has ruled out any radical changes to its property portfolio – in spite of shareholder Robert Tchenguiz’s wishes.

JPMorgan Cazenove says it will be watching closely for any sales slowdown – particularly in non-food areas. Underlying sales for the year to March 22 came in at 5.8 per cent, including petrol. Fourth quarter sales were up 4.1 per cent. Analysts are expecting profits of £483m against £380m last year on sales up 5.8 per cent to £19.2bn.

The City will also be watching what Sainsbury’s management says about its Qatari-based shareholders. The Qatar Investment Authority, which walked away from a bid approach late last year, is still sitting on a 25 per cent stake and is now free to make another approach under UK takeover rules.

Earnings
BNP Paribas Q1 €2.05 (€2.73)
Compass Group H1, FY estimate 19.79p (15.04p)
Deere & Company Q2 $1.75 ($1.36)
FirstGroup FY 40.97p (33.70p)
Freddie Mac Q1 -$0.92 (-$0.46)
J Sainsbury FY 19.13p (14.72p)
Johnston Press H1, FY estimate 30.78p (34.20p)
Land Securities Group FY 75.97p (70.48p)
ThyssenKrupp Q2 €1.31 (€0.45)


Trading and sales updates
DSG International
Annual meetings
Amec
BG Group
Bunzl
Int’l Personal Finance
Interserve
Legal & General
LogicaCMG
Rentokil Initial
SIG
Royal Bank of Scotland Tullow Oil
Unilever
Shareholder meetings
Arbuthnot Banking
Invesco
Venture Production

Shareholder meetings
Comcast

MAY 15

● SABMiller, the owner of Castle Lager and Miller Genuine Draft, has already given guidance on sales volume growth – so all eyes will be on profit margins when the brewer releases its annual results, writes Jenny Wiggins. Analysts are looking for earnings per share of up to 142 cents with the hope that SABMiller has been able to push through price increases. The group has warned that its South African sales have been suffering from a weaker rand and the loss of a licence to brew Amstel beer. But sales in its struggling Miller business have been improving.

Earnings
3i FY 159.44p (253.53p)
BT Q4 or FY, FY estimate 23.38p (22.70p)
Euromoney Inst’l Investor H1, FY estimate 35.27p (33.57p)
Findel FY 51.30p (50.17p)
Hewlett-Packard Q2 $0.84 ($0.70)
Invensys Q4 4.92p (-)
Investec FY 55.84p (53.34p)
Luminar Group Holdings FY 39.28p (31.79p)
National Grid FY 52.96p (48.11p)
SABMiller FY $1.33 ($1.20)
Vedanta Resources FY 154.44p (165.43p)
Trading and sales updates
Barclays Bank
Cookson
Tullett Prebon

Annual meetings
Axis-Shield
Barr Pharmaceuticals
Brit Insurance Holdings
Inchcape
Informa
ITV
Marshalls
Prudential
TeleCity
Tullett Prebon
William Hill

Shareholder meetings
Balfour Beatty
CSR
Dow Chemical Company
GCap Media
IntercontinentalExchange
Marsh & McLennan
NYSE Euronext
Pulte Homes
Tiffany & Co

MAY 16

Earnings
Avis Europe H1, FY estimate 2.39p (2.10p)
British Airways Q4, FY estimate 53.92p (38.12p)
Capital & Regional H1, FY estimate 41.21p (34.03p)
Holidaybreak H1, FY estimate 57.58p (54.36p)

Annual meetings
BP
Charter
Computacenter
E-Trade
Galiform
KBC Adv’d Technologies
Ladbrokes
Premier Foods

Shareholder meetings
Aon
OmnicomSMG

Results forecasts, from Thomson I/B/E/S, are for fully diluted, post-tax EPS in local currency for the stated fiscal period. The comparable period of the previous year is bracketed. Non-UK reporting periods are broken by quarter: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. UK periods are designated: Q1, H1 (first half), Q3 and FY (full year). Thomson Financial calculates mean earnings estimates based on a majority policy where the accounting basis used for each company estimate is that used by the majority of contributing analysts

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