The week ahead...

With Christmas approaching fast, there are far fewer company results slated for release over the next week. But scheduled updates from Carpetright, Petrofac and Dixons Carphone should make for interesting reading.

Monday 15 December

Floorings heavyweight Carpetright is first to firm up half-year results, and hopes are high following a strong second quarter. Like-for-like sales grew by 7% during the three months, which caused Peel Hunt to upgrade forecasts. Look for interim pre-tax profit of about £5 million, the broker says.

We should also hear new chief executive Wilf Walsh's first thoughts, which may give mean a more aggressive recovery strategy for the UK business.

Trading Statements

Cohort, Carpetright, Scholium Group, Clear Leisure

AGM/EGM

Conroy Gold And Natural Resources, Paragon Entertainment, Kennedy Ventures, Fidelity European Values, Karelian Diamond Resources, KEFI Minerals, BG Group, PROACTIS Holdings, Utilitywise, Vietnam Hldg Ltd, Applied Graphene Materials (AGM)

Tuesday 16 December

We've already heard that Domino Printing Sciences traded in line with expectations during the year to October, so look for sales of £343.3 million and pre-tax profit of £58.3 million, says Peel Hunt. But the broker does not expect any improvement in the outlook, which likely means flat profits in 2015.

Analysts' expectations:

"DNO has a high quality product offering with high barriers to entry and should trade at a premium to the market over the long term," says Peel Hunt. "The business is currently well positioned strategically (underlying equipment sales are good, fluids and consumables gross margins remain strong), and this means investors with a long-term outlook should be interested at these levels. However, with high levels of uncertainty about FY2015E still, we maintain our Hold recommendation."

Economic news

December's Euro area 'flash' PMIs will be closely watched. "Given that the forward looking components of last month's index were soft, we suspect that this month's index will be downbeat," says Investec Securities.

Trading Statements

Imagination Technologies, Domino Printing Sciences, Petrofac, National Express

AGM/EGM

Edinburgh Dragon Trust, Imperial Innovations Group, Waterlogic, dotDigital Group, Mysale Group, International Biotechnology Trust, COLT Telecom Group, Tristel

Wednesday 17 December

Economic news

UK labour market data released midweek will reveal how quickly unemployment here is slowing and if pay really is on the way up. Elsewhere, Investec expects a further drop in CPI inflation to 1.1%, a boost to retail sales from Black Friday activity, and a disappointing set of government borrowing figures.

In the US, Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen will unveil new forecasts and give a press conference. Don't expect any change to policy, but look for the use of "considerable time," the Fed's previous reference to how long the central bank plans to keep interest rates near zero.

Trading Statements

Dixons Carphone, Volution

AGM/EGM

Standard Life Equity Income Trust, Sareum Holdings, PXP Vietnam Fund Ltd, Mxc Capital, Rose Group, Impact Holdings (UK), 21st Century Technology, Baronsmead VCT 2, Benchmark Holdings, Baronsmead VCT, Volution Group, British Empire Securities & General Trust, Greatland Gold

Thursday 18 December

AGM/EGM

Schroder Income Growth Fund, GlaxoSmithKline, Frontera Resources Corporation, LXB Retail Properties, Northern Venture Trust

Friday 19 December

There's been modest growth at Berendsen in recent months and margins are improving, although the strong pound has been hit reported numbers. A full-year pre-close statement should give more detail.

Under-fire outsourcer Serco serves up its own pre-close update, and after a string of profits warnings and proposed £550 million rights issue, the City is in no mood for any more bad news. Guidance for full-year underlying operating profit has already been cut by about £20 million to £130-£140 million, and that's before the £1.5 billion hit from the contract and balance sheet review.

Trading Statements

Serco, Keller, Berendsen

AGM/EGM

Uranium Resources, Webis Holdings, Wessex Exploration, Henderson Value Trust, JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust, Datang Intl Power Generation, F&C UK Real Estate Investments, OPG Power Ventures, Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC (SYM)