Wednesday preview: Sky reports first quarter, ARM Holdings posts third quarter

The company is forecast to report 5% increase in revenues to an underlying £2.78bn and a 5% increase in earnings before interest and tax to £363m,

“We expect UK revenues to grow +6%, Germany +9% and Italy at -3%,” said UBS analysts.

“Despite the loss of Champions League in UK/Italy, we believe Sky will deliver a broadly stable y-o-y performance in terms of subscriber net adds with solid growth in financials. We remain comfortable on full-year consensus estimates.”

Champions League has started its first season on BT, which snatched the rights from Sky and ITV by paying £897m for live coverage.

However, UBS was less confident on chip marker ARM Holdings which will post its third quarter results on Wednesday.

“We do not believe ARM will be immune from the smart-phone market slow down seen and we sit below consensus for Q4 but feel this is already reflected by the market,” analysts said.

UBS predicts revenue of £236 compared to consensus of £240m. EBIT of £119m is estimated versus consensus of £123m.

Wednesday 21 October

INTERIMS
Datatec Ltd. (DI), Development Securities, Home Retail Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Total SA

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

Q3
Norsk Hydro ASA, Orange Polska S.A. GDR (Reg S), X5 Retail Group NV GDR (Reg S)

GMS
Armadale Capital

IMSS
Reckitt Benckiser Group

AGMS
Photo-Me International

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Public Sector Finances (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Rank Group

Q1
Sky