Companies reporting next week

TROUBLED telecoms group

Losses before one-off costs are forecast to add up to £348m against a £276m profit, fund manager Gerrard predicts, while analysts will also be keen for an update on the group's plans to cut its debt mountain further.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone is forecast to post half-year pre-tax profits of £2.9bn when it reports on Tuesday, against £1.8bn the previous year. Last month, the group reported a jump in subscriber numbers to 95.6m worldwide, 12.8m of which are in the UK - and said it was on track to grow its customer base by 20% this year. Of particular

interest will be how the group views the impact of the economic slowdown on its business.

Telecoms group Cable & Wireless warned in September that trading was difficult and that it was expecting a 5% dip in revenue from its key Global division serving business customers.

The group, which announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs in March, reports half-year results on Wednesday. The figures will be difficult to compare as the firm has made some significant structural changes, including selling and buying businesses. However, earnings before interest and depreciation are forecast at £450m with underlying profits of £18m.

Consumer products group Reckitt Benckiser will demonstrate the defensive qualities of its home products business on Wednesday as pre-tax profits in the third quarter are expected to rise to £94m from £83m a year earlier.

One of the company‘s major concerns will be the performance its struggling Latin American businesses.

International Power, the generating company demerged from National Power, has been in existence only since October 2000 so comparisons for the third quarter will not be possible on Thursday.

Gerrard expects pre-tax profits of £60m after management said in September that it was on course to meet its targets for the full-year. News on International Power's construction and development pipelines will be important as they represent a significant slice of the group's future earnings.

Thursday will see Invensys chief executive Rick Haythornthwaite unveil the engineering firm's interim figures after little more than a month in the job. It is unlikely to be an easy ride. Invensys is forecast to post pre-tax profits of £180m - a massive slide on last year's £368m - after being hit hard by the US slowdown.