BP Share News (BP.)

Beleaguered oil giant BP is expected to announce a headline loss when it announces second quarter results on Tuesday as a result of provisions for the Gulf of Mexico crisis, though estimates of how big the loss will be vary, as analysts try to guess whether BP will swallow its poison in one gulp or in small swallows.The market is fairly unanimous, however, that underlying earnings (excluding exceptional items) will be around $5bn (£3.2bn).Panmure Gordon forecasts underlying replacement cost net income of $4.83bn but notes it is at the bottom of the range which spans as high as $5.29bn. "We believe there could be significant charges taken over the quarter for the costs associated with the Macondo well, with BP probably opting to take a significant hit to the bottom line rather than successive quarters of charges. This could lead to it reporting a substantial headline loss," the broker said."At the operating level we forecast E&P [exploration & production] operating profits of US$7,068m (US$8,292m in Q1 2010). Although the company will benefit from higher oil and gas prices, it will see a seasonal dip in production due to lower gas sales. It will also suffer from increased maintenance and the impact of the Macondo well. Trading profits could also be hurt from the flat prices over the quarter. The downstream division is expected to generate operating profits of US$1,112m (US$729m in Q1 2010) as it is able to benefit from a recovery in refining margins," Panmure Gordon said.Chip designer ARM will have been among the more enthusiastic of cheerleaders when Apple announced record results earlier this week. The company's intellectual property is used in most of Apple's hot products and this has not gone unnoticed by the market, which has chased the shares 10% higher this week.PZ Cussons, best known in Britain for its Imperial Leather soap, issues full-year figures. Panmure Gordon is predicting 17.6% growth in earnings per share.Bike and car parts retailer Halfords issues an interim management statement for a 13-week period spanning the UK general election and the World Cup, and Singer Capital Markets fears these events may have been among the factors dissuading shoppers from dipping into their pockets.The broker thinks like for like sales could be down by between 0.5% and 1.5% on the corresponding period of 2009."We forecast that LFLs [like for like sales] will have been impacted by the disruption of the Election, the Budget and the World Cup. Despite this short term disruption our view remains that the core Halfords retail business looks well positioned with its defensive, needs-driven offer, whilst the new autocentres operation offers the group a significant new growth angle," the broker said.Speciality chemicals supplier Croda is tipped by Charles Stanley to announce robust interim figures. "Investors might note that Croda releases its Q2 results on the same day as BP. This has heightened significance in that the recent Mexican Gulf tragedy has raised prices for products such as sorbitol, ethylene oxide and oleic acid (all products used in dispersal activities). We expect news on recent product price increases across a broad range of products, following earlier increases which took place at the beginning of the year. We view this as a likely EPS positive development," Charles Stanley said.The CBI distributive trades survey will attempt to wrest investors attention away from a jam-packed company results agenda. The balance of retailers reporting that sales were higher in July 2010 than in July 2009 is expected to be +5%, compared to -5% in June. INTERIMSAmino Technologies, ARM Holdings, BG Group, BP, Croda International, Norsk Hydro, Pace, Provident FinancialINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSRichmond Fed Manufacturing Index (US) (15.00) ABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)M3 Money Supply (EU) (09:00)Total Jobseekers (FRA) (17:00)Q2ARM Holdings, BG Group, BP, Norsk HydroGMSBlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, RCG HoldingsFINALSDQ Entertainment, Games Workshop Group, Misys, PZ CussonsIMSSDaily Mail and General Trust, Halfords GroupEGMSHaiKe Chemical Group, KazakhGold Group Ltd. GDR (Reg S)AGMSAberdeen All Asia Inv Trust, Accsys Technologies, Argo Real Estate Opportunities Fund Ltd., Ashok Leyland Ltd. GDR (Reg S), CareCapital, Downing Planned Exit VCT 2, Downing Planned Exit VCT 3, Downing Protected VCT VI, Downing Protected VCT VII, HaiKe Chemical Group, Halfords Group, IS Pharma, JPMorgan Fleming Japanese Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Media Square, Metro Baltic Horizons, Ottoman Fund Ltd. (The), Persian Gold, Tongaat-Hulett, TR Property Inv Trust, TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares, Vodafone Group, Workspace GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSPromethean World, Workspace GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCBI Distributive Trends Surveys (11:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEIBIS Media VCT, Ventus 1 VCT