The week ahead: RBS, BP, Pearson

After Lloyds' second-quarter update this week, Royal Bank of Scotland follows Friday, with Pearson following on a busy end to the first few days of August.

Monday 31 July

Trading Statements

Keller, Fidessa, Arix Bioscience, Senior, Coats, HSBC

AGM/EGM

Salvarx, Tau Capital, National Grid, Plaza Centers, China New Energy

Tuesday 1 August

Trading Statements

NWF, Rolls-Royce, Intertek, Gocompare.com, LSL Property Services, Meggitt, Genel Energy, Taylor Wimpey, BP, Greggs, Filtronic, Man Group, Direct Line Insurance, Centrica, BBA Aviation, SDL, Elementis, 4imprint, Forterra, CYBG, SDL

Wednesday 2 August

Trading Statements

RSA Insurance, Smurfit Kappa, Novae, Standard Chartered, Travis Perkins, Rio Tinto, Johnston Press, William Hill, BAE Systems, Aggreko, Dignity, Vedanta Resources, Barr (A G)

Thursday 3 August

Trading statements

Shire, Serco, esure, Hong Kong Land Holdings, Dairy Farm International Holdings, ConvaTec, Cobham, Spirent Communications, Inmarsat, Mondi Avacta, Mandarin Oriental International, Ladbrokes Coral, Non-standard Finance, International Consolidated Airlines, UDG Healthcare, Next

AGM/EGM

Amiad Water Systems

Friday 4 August

The week ends on a cracker, with some big guns reporting. Royal Bank of Scotland will be the most closely watched when it reports its results for the second quarter of 2017.

According to David Lock, research analyst at Deutsche Bank, the market will be looking for confidence that trends seen in the first quarter will continue into Q2 and beyond. These trends include strong loan growth, robust credit quality, lower costs and better capital markets performance.

Lock predicts pre-tax profit of £943 million, down quarter-on-quarter - Q1 benefited from very low impairments and strong Natwest Markets performance - but up year-on-year on higher income.

"RBS remains the most rate-sensitive of the large-cap domestic banks," Lock adds, though he acknowledges a rate rise is unlikely before Brexit completes. "Trading at 0.9 times tangible net asset value… RBS does not screen particularly cheap."

Deutsche has a 'hold' rating on the stock, despite potential upside of 9% to its target price of 275p.

Troubled former Financial Times and Economist publisher Pearson is next up to the table with a half-year report.

A string of profits warnings combined to slash the education specialist's share price by almost two-thirds - and, according to broker Liberum, it could fall by another 50%. It reckons the firm is worth just 330p.

A positive first-quarter update back in March saw shares jump by up to 17% overnight to briefly touch 773p. After the sale of a 22% stake in Penguin Random House earlier this month, though, the stock slipped back to pre-result levels, where they current sit at 657p.

"Pearson remains structurally endangered due to the problems in the US higher education sector," says Liberum analyst Ian Whittaker. He expects this to continue as issues in the sector increase and the promised digital transition does not deliver.

In addition, he adds, expectations from management that the dividend will be in the mid-teens pence range for the year - putting it on a yield of just 2% - destroys the attraction for income investors.

Whittaker also expects consensus estimates that revenue will stabilise in 2018 and grow in 2019 are wide of the mark. "We expect further consensus downgrades over the coming years."

Trading statement

Jardine Strategic Holdings, Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate, FBD Holdings, Merlin Entertainments, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Royal Bank of Scotland, Pearson, RPSThis 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.