Comment & Analysis

LONDON (ShareCast) - Under siege confectionery and gum company Cadbury (LSE: CBRY.L - news) will have to produce one of the most impressive trading updates of its illustrious history to boost its chances of resisting the determined efforts of US processed food manufacturer Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT - news) to take it over.

The chocolate maker has been trading solidly lately in challenging conditions and this is likely to have continued, but the key question is whether trading has stabilised enough for the company to persuade its auditors to allow it to up its full year earnings guidance.

Broker Charles Stanley reckons that performance in emerging markets, which account for 38% of group sales, ‘could prove the big swing factor having increased by 7% over H1 and seem likely to deliver a similar performance, or better, over Q3.’

Home Retail Group delivers interim results. Last month the retailer, which owns Homebase and Argos, said it expects profits for the first half of the year to match those of the same period in 2008 after it saw continuing declines in like-for-like sales at its Argos chain in the quarter to August 29, but managed to lift sales at Homebase.

Chief executive Terry Duddy said: ‘We approach the key Christmas trading period from a position of operational and financial strength, but continue to plan cautiously for consumer demand.’

On the economic front, the release of minutes from the Bank of England’s latest meeting will be seized on. The Bank kept interest rates unchanged at historic lows and left its programme of Quantitative Easing (QE) alone when it met earlier this month.

There have been signs this week that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC (A050540.KQ - news) ) has some divisions on where to go with the QE programme.

MPC member Adam Posen has indicated he would be in favour of boosting the QE programme next month.

Posen said he is not worried ‘right now’ about inflation ballooning as a result of low interest rates.

Fellow MPC member Paul Fisher, however, hinted in an interview last week that there might be a pause in QE.

INTERIMS Home Retail Group

FINALS Vantis (LSE: VTS.L - news)

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) , Dairy Farm International (Singapore), Highcroft Investment, Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Singapore), Jardine Matheson (Singapore), Jardine Strategic (J37.SI - news) (Singapore), PV Crystalox Solar (LSE: PVCS.L - news)

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Advance Developing Markets, BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) , Bloomsbury Publishing (LSE: BMY.L - news) , British Polythene, DataCash Group (LSE: DATA.L - news) , Game Group (LSE: GMG.L - news) , Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2, Invesco Perpetual European Absolute Return Trust, Kerry Group (Dublin: KRZ.IR - news) 'A', M&C Saatchi, Spectris (LSE: SXS.L - news) , Staffline Group (LSE: STAF.L - news) , Ted Baker (LSE: TBK.L - news) , Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news)

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE City of London Inv Trust, M&G High Income & Growth Units, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income Shares

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)

EGMS Target Resources (LSE: TGT.L - news)

AGMS Haynes Publishing Group, Ludgate Environmental Fund, Tembusu Investments

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) , Cadbury, Drax, Quarto,

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30) CBI Quarterly Industrial Trends/Orders (11:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Admiral Group

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Blue Planet Worldwide Financials Inv Trust, British Sky Broadcasting Group, City Merchants High Yield Trust, Eleco (LSE: ELCO.L - news) , Hays (LSE: HAS.L - news) , JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Manchester (MNCS.OB - news) & London Trust, Mcbride (LSE: MCB.L - news) , Mouchel Group (LSE: MCHL.L - news) , New Star Inv Trust, Savile Group (LSE: SAVG.L - news) , Smiths Group (LSE: SMIN.L - news) , UK Commercial Property Trust