Companies reporting next week

INSURANCE giant

Stockbroker Charles Stanley said anecdotal evidence suggested the Pru had continued to build on the strong operational performance reported over the first half.

In the US, the Pru's subsidiary Jackson Life appears to have turned the corner and should be well positioned to benefit from its product range and regional diversity, the broker said.

Half-year figures from Wm Morrison will be one of the week's highlights on Thursday. July's trading statement and accompanying profit warning gave clear guidance for interim pre-tax profits, which are expected to come in at around £140m.

Attention is more likely to focus on current trading in the former Safeway store estate, whether price cuts have started to spark the necessary increases in volumes and what sort of sales growth the converted stores are producing.

A healthy rise in annual profits from Allied Domecq on Thursday is unlikely to come as a surprise to analysts after the owner of brands including Beefeater gin and Tia Maria posted a strong second-half trading update last month.

The City is expecting profits of £526.5m in the year to August 31, up from £495m a year earlier, as the group benefits from continued growth in spirits and premium wines and at the Quick Serve Restaurants business, which includes Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlours.

Investors in household products group Reckitt Benckiser will be keen to discover the extent of its exposure to higher raw material costs when it reports third quarter figures on Tuesday. They will also be interested in the Anglo-Dutch group's comments about how much of those costs it can pass to customers.

An update will also be welcome on the firm's decision to start selling branded products through supermarket discounter Lidl.

Reckitt has said it remains confident about delivering 7% organic top line growth and an 18% improvement in net income, which should be helpful to investors at a time when rivals Unilever and Colgate have made disappointing trading comments.

Housebuilder Bellway will maintain its impressive record of growth on Tuesday when profits for the year to July 31 are expected to come in at £196m, against £169.3m a year earlier. That will be the 13th year in a row that the Newcastle-based company has improved its figures.

Bellway said in August that half of its sales target for the current year had already been met, but analysts will still be anxious about the company's outlook as George Wimpey and Gleeson recently issued cautious statements.

Solid but unspectacular interim results are likely from Cumbrian brewer and pub group Jennings Brothers on Thursday.

The group is tipped to turn in pre-tax profits before goodwill in the 26 weeks to August 28 of about £1.8m against £1.7m last time.

The miserable summer this year is expected to result in a 'steady-as-she-goes' performance by the Cockermouth-based company, particularly when set against the hot summer of 2003.