Companies reporting this week

HOT topics ranging from the cost of borrowing to

The implications of ITV Digital's demise should dominate proceedings during British Sky Broadcasting's third quarter results announcement on Friday. In the near term BSkyB will lose programme revenue from ITV Digital as a result of the collapse, but it should also pick up subscribers from the operation.

Fund manager Gerrard expects BSkyB's direct-to-home subscriber base to have risen 11% on an annual basis to nearly 5.9m , with pre-tax losses declining to £235m from £256m last time.

Low-cost airline easyJet surprised the market last Friday by announcing it was in the advanced stages of talks to take over rival operator Go. That proposed deal will be the centre of attention when easyJet posts half-year figures on Wednesday, expected to show underlying pre-tax profits of around £1m against losses of more than £10m last time. EasyJet has outperformed the rest of the sector in recent months, dealing with the pressures on demand caused by the 11 September terrorist attacks, before going on to outline aggressive expansion plans.

Strong sales in the US and Europe should boost the world's leading household cleaning products group Reckitt Benckiser's first quarter figures on Tuesday.

Fund manager Gerrard expects pre-tax profits to rise from last year's £82m to £96m this time, although economic woes in Latin America and tough conditions in Asia are likely to have an impact on the performance. As well as the results, management is also likely to provide further information on its desire to create 15 core brands - a move which should also help to reduce costs.

Gas exploration group BG Group should outshine counterparts in the energy sector with only a slight fall in first quarter earnings on Thursday. The expected net income figure of £133m - down from £136m a year earlier - compares with 50%-plus reductions seen elsewhere.

Annual production growth is anticipated at about 18%, with most of the improvement coming from the Blake and Elgin/Franklin fields in the UK and extra gas sales in Egypt. However, warmer weather during the quarter could still have an impact on production figures.

With premiums on the increase after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Royal & Sun Alliance will be under pressure to show it has benefited from this trend when it issues first quarter results on Thursday.

Analysts are concerned that R&SA does not have the capital available to take advantage, although quarterly figures are still expected to improve from £143m to £175m this time. R&SA has already announced the sale of its asset management business for £240m and is likely to be quizzed on progress towards its aim of raising £800m from disposals this year.

Economic attention will be firmly placed on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which is due to announce the results of its monthly interest rate setting meeting on Thursday.

While there has been a batch of upbeat survey material, recent speeches from key figures suggest there is little prospect of an early hike in base rates.

With deputy governor David Clementi playing down the strength of the property market as a reason for tightening the monetary position, it is likely the cost of borrowing will not rise until June at the earliest.

F=finals, I=interims. The EPS* (earnings per share) forecast is based on the latest consensus of analysts' predictions. Data compiled from: REUTERS, COMPANY REFS, BLOOMBERG & PRIMARK