The week ahead: Next, Smiths Group and Fevertree

Monday 20 March

Trading statements

Finsbury Food, Volution Group, Diurnal Group, MD Medical Group Investments, John Laing Infrastructure Fund, MaxCyte Inc, Taptica International, Satellite Solutions Worldwide, One Media IP

Tuesday 21 March

Fevertree Drinks is one of the stockmarket's modern miracles. Trading at around 170p when it first listed in November 2014, the posh drink mixers maker now changes hands for over £15.

Now valued at over £1.7 billion, it's the four-largest company on AIM, reward for consistently beating expectations, generally by 15%. So look out for another stunning set of numbers on Tuesday.

True, the stock trades on sky-high earnings multiples, but there's still plenty if growth to go for, especially in the US. And it would be a surprise if a predator – someone like Diageo – didn't show an interest.

Trading statements

Bellway, Earthport, Judges Scientific, Nahl Group, Smart Metering Systems, IQE, Hansteen Holdings, Augean, Amec Foster Wheeler, 888 Holdings, EKF Diagnostics, EnQuest, Ubisense, Vectura, Fevertree Drinks, Safecharge International, IG Group

AGM/EGM

River & Mercantile UK Micro Cap Investment Co, Blue Prism, One Media IP Group, Electronic Data Processing

Wednesday 22 March

Trading statements

Softcat, Xaar, Kingfisher, Quixant

Thursday 23 March

Poor Next shareholders will be hoping the struggling fashion chain has some good news at last, but the truth is it probably won't.

A shock profits warning in 2016, then a dismal set of fourth-quarter results in January this year do not bode well, and the high street bellwether has already warned us that "the cyclical slow-down in spending on clothing and footwear to continue into next year."

Buckle up.

Trading statements

Kier Group, Curtis Banks, Futura Medical, Next, SOCO International, Science In Sport, Halma

AGM/EGM

Conygar Investment Company

Friday 24 March

With its shares trading at all-time highs, Smiths Group, the conglomerate which makes airport detection systems and sells mechanical seals and bearings to the oil industry, publishes half-year results Friday.

We don't have the half-year forecasts, but Numis Securities is optimistic for the year to July, tipping Smiths to increase underlying pre-tax profit by 9% to £491 million on revenue up 7% to £3.2 billion.

A price/earnings (PE) ratio of 17 is no deterrent to Numis analyst David Larkam who upgraded the shares to a 'buy' in February and said the shares were worth 1,810p.

Trading statements

Smiths Group, Frontier Smarttechs Group

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.