ATK.L Share News (ATK)

Plant hire group Ashtead raised full year profit expectations in its March trading update, prompting analysts to revise their forecasts. Numis Securities is going for £286m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation on revenue of £936m. Profit before tax is seen coming in at £30.7m."The key for investors will be the outlook for the current year, particularly rental rates which started to improve during (the 2010-2011 period)," Numis said. That theme was echoed by Panmure Gordon, a long-time fan of the stock. The broker believes Ashtead has "ongoing momentum despite economic signals which remain unclear. With an emphasis on CapX [capital expenditure] skewed towards areas of higher return, an active hurricane season in the US could be highly beneficial given its Remediation & Restoration operation," the broker believes.Despite being a buyer of the shares Panmure Gordon is a bit less optimistic than Numis regarding profits. It expects profit before tax of £27.6m, and sees net debt falling by £20m to £808.5m.The same broker has also been casting its eye over design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins, which also brings out full-year results on Thursday."An upbeat pre-close update suggests a good set of results," the broker reckons. "The acquisition of PBSJ remains a major focus while the recent announcement of CEO change creates some uncertainty," Panmure Gordon added, referring to the recently announced decision of Keith Clarke to step down from the chief executive role after eight years.The broker notes that at the time of Atkins's trading update in April, expectations were for pre-tax profits of between £88m and £97m. Market consensus, according to Panmure Gordon, is now £96.4m, £0.1m below Panmure Gordon's own forecast. Digital Look's figures suggest consensus is for profits of £96.14m on revenue of £1,558m.INTERIMSCareTech HoldingINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberdeen Asset Management, Noble Investments (UK)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Payments (US) (13:30)Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)Building Permits (US) (13:30)Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Current Account (US) (13:30)ECB Report (EU) (09:00)Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00)Housing Starts (US) (13:30)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00)Q4Ashtead Group, Real Estate Credit Investments Ltd.FINALSAshtead Group, Atkins (WS), Mulberry Group, Polar Cap Technology Trust, Real Estate Credit Investments Ltd., Suretrack Monitoring EGMSCadogan Petroleum, Ruukki Group (DI)AGMSBritish American Inv Trust, Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Ltd., Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development, EMED Mining Public Ltd., Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (DI), Henderson Private Equity Inv Trust, Highland Gold Mining Ltd., Kingfisher, Lifeline Scientific Inc. (Reg S), Matra Petroleum, Metals Exploration, NetDimensions Holding Ltd. (DI), Octopus Eclipse VCT 2, Park Plaza Hotels Ltd., Richoux Group, Sigma Capital Group, Signet Jewelers Ltd., Slingsby H.CUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSInternet Retail Sales (09:30)Retail Sales (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECompagnie de St-Gobain SA, Derwent London, Severfield-RowenQ1Premier Farnell--jh