Companies reporting next week

OIL giants

Shell will hope to have drawn a line under the controversy around the shock downgrades of its reserves earlier this year when it releases its first quarter results to the market on Thursday.

Shell has already indicated that production volumes will be down 5% compared with last year in the upstream, while the underlying results of its refining and marketing business are set to improve on higher profitability in the US and Asia.

Fund manager Gerrard expects Shell to report first-quarter profits have fallen to 3.74bn US dollars (£2.23bn) from 3.94bn US dollars (£2.12bn) a year ago.

Unilever's first quarter figures may be undermined by the continued weakness of Slim Fast due to the popularity of the Atkins diet. Unilever had set a target for its leading consumer goods brands to grow sales by between 3% and 5% during 2004, but analysts warn that this Wednesday's figures could be at the bottom of the range.

Analysts expect profits before tax and exceptionals to be between e866m and e867m (£580m to £581m), up 9% on last year.

On Thursday, analysts will find it hard to compare the performance of drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline as its results will reflect the impact of generic copies of antidepressant Paxil.

Glaxo is set to report that pre-tax profits have fallen to £1.52bn in the first quarter compared with £1.77bn a year ago, largely because of cheaper versions of key drugs although the weak dollar will also have hurt.

Oil giant BP has flagged its success in replacing its reserves and total production in the first three months of 2004 should be 11% higher than a year ago, with a strong contribution from its Russian joint venture TNK-BP.

Margins have also improved in its refining and marketing business in past months, while analysts expect BP to report flat underlying profits at its chemicals arm compared with the same period last year.

Its first-quarter results on Tuesday should show pre-tax profits of $5.29bn (£3bn) against $5.6bn (£3.2bn) a year ago.

Cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco is expected to report a mixed performance when it updates investors on Wednesday.

Although UK growth is thought to have remained steady during the half year, analysts say this was probably offset by pressure in Germany and France.

Pre-tax profits are expected to be £435m, compared with £377m last time.

On Thursday, analysts expect chemicals group ICI to reveal an improved first quarter performance across all its businesses.

However currency movements, in particular the weak US dollar, will probably have an impact on results.

In February the company said its 2003 profit performance was 'unsatisfactory' but said the outlook for demand was encouraging.

The group's first quarter results are expected to show that the National Starch division has benefited from price rises to offset the high cost of raw materials.