What's in store today...

Rhian Nicholson
13.08.09 00:01

Insurer Prudential (PRU) is poised to cheer investors with a dividend hike when it releases its interim results on Thursday.

Unlike rivals Aviva (AV-) and Legal & General (LGEN) who slashed their dividend by 31% and 45% respectively, the Pru is likely to up its dividend payment by around 5% to 6.3p.

In the first quarter it posted a 5% fall in total group insurance sales in to �697 million. However, its capital surplus is forecast to have risen to around �4 billion following the completion of the sale of its Taiwan business to China Life Insurance Company.

Meanwhile, travel company Thomas Cook (TCG) published its interim management statement with analysts looking for guidance on bookings for the final quarter.

Numis Securities says: "For the full year, we currently project earnings before interest and tax of �418 million, which may require some slight downward revision to reflect recent currency movements. We also have some concerns that swine flu may have had some short term/exceptional impact on reported numbers."

Results

(Interims) Prudential, Spring Group

(Quarterly) Cryptologic Ld, European Goldfields Limited, Western Canadian Coal Corporation

Trading updates

Thomas Cook

AGMs

Investec, Software Radio Technology

Dividend payment date

(Final) British Smaller Companies VCT, Caledonia Investments, GB Group, VT Group

What's in store today...

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