BP Share News (BP.)

More than one-fifth of the constituents of the FTSE 100 index are set to make trading statements in the last week of July so there is heavy competition for attention, but there is little doubt that the second quarter update from oil giant BP is the one the market and the press are most eagerly anticipating.The company has not spent much time out of the spotlight since the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico occurred on 20 April, but the results announcement will give the company the opportunity to demonstrate that other parts of the business have not been neglected while senior management has been fire-fighting the Gulf of Mexico crisis.The shares have lost more than a third of their value over the last three months and the company has been under constant attack from the US media and government, raising doubts over the future of chief executive officer Tony Hayward.The share price is up by around 20% over the last month, however, and the board of BP has been vocal in its backing of Hayward recently, so it is possible that the embattled boss will survive; a good set of results on Tuesday would certainly help his case and could also nip in the bud speculation about US oil giants such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron picking up BP for a song.Expectations are for the company to announce quarterly profits have risen to £3.2bn, but on the down side the projected liabilities from the oil spill are likely to break through the £13bn barrier.The company may also take the opportunity to announce its post-crisis strategy. The company has already embarked on a massive sale of assets but with the company's reputation shredded in the USA, and governments getting antsy about deepwater drilling projects, it will need to find other areas on which to focus. Monday sees another company recently in the news, Reckitt Benckiser, releasing its interim results. The company announced an agreed £2.5bn bid for foot care and condom firm SSL on Wednesday, raising fears that the company may be finding it harder to achieve organic growth. The acquisition of SSL has long been rumoured and some investment analysts are asking why it is taking place now, though the answer may simply be that the decline in the value of sterling has made SSL very attractive to US companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive.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. The Cambridge-based company releases interim results on Tuesday.Monday July 26INTERIMSDialight, Pearson, Reckitt Benckiser Group, WSP GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSNew Homes Sales (US) (15:00)Producer Price Index(AUS) (00:00)Chicago Fed National Activity Index (US) (13.30)Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index (US) (15.30)Import Pirces (GER)IMSSHansen Transmissions International, National GridEGMSGMA ResourcesAGMSAlbion Enterprise VCT, CMA Global Hedge PCC EUR Shares, CMA Global Hedge PCC GBP Shares, CMA Global Hedge PCC USD Shares, Connemara Mining, Cranswick, EPE Special Opportunities, Establishment Inv Trust, Evolve Capital, Hogg Robinson, HSBC Infrastructure Company Ltd., National Grid, Petrel ResourcesTuesday July 27INTERIMSAmino 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 VCTWednesday July 28INTERIMSBodycote, Brit Insurance Holdings NV, British American Tobacco, Centrica, CSR, Jarvis Securities, RAB Capital, Rathbone Brothers, Rexam, Rolls-Royce Group, St James's Place, Tarsus Group, Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. GDR (Reg S), Virgin Media Inc.INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAberforth Geared Capital & Income Trust Income Shares, British Portfolio Trust, Brunner Inv Trust, Charter European Trust, Development Securities, Fenner, Ludgate Environmental Fund, Matrix European Real Estate Investment Trust Ltd., Microgen, Throgmorton TrustQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATECity of London Inv Trust, Equity Partnership Income Shares, GlaxoSmithKline, M&G High Income & Growth Units, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income SharesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBeige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Small Business Confidence (JPN)Q2CSR, Virgin Media Inc.GMSMidas Capital, Pure WaferFINALSRenishawANNUAL REPORTPark Group, SpiceIMSSCompass Group, easyJet, Invensys, Sage GroupAGMSAmiad Filtration Systems, Aurora Inv Trust, Charles Stanley, Cropper (James), Endace, Geopark, Globus Maritime, Invensys, Investment Company (The), JJB Sports, Jupiter Green Inv Trust, Kenetics, Kewill, Melorio, Norcros, Polar Cap Technology Trust, Scapa Group, Umeco, Vedanta Resources, Victoria, Walker GreenbankTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSCarphone Warehouse Group, PlaytechFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBraemar Shipping Services, Fuller Smith and Turner, Templeton Emerging Markets Inv TrustFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEHeath (Samuel) & Sons, Investec, Northern Foods, Scottish & Southern Energy, TanjongQ1Yell GroupThursday July 29INTERIMSAstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company SA, Collins Stewart, Dairy Farm International (Singapore), Hongkong Land Holding Ltd. (Singapore), Hutchison China Meditech, Mandarin In.Sg, National Express Group, Rank Group, Reed Elsevier, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B', RPS Group, Travis Perkins, Trinity Mirror, VernalisINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSFed Beige Book (US) (19.00) Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00)Industrial Confidence (EU) (10:00)Consumer Confidence (EU) (10:00)Economic Confidence (EU) (10:00Service Sector Confidence (EU) (10:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU) (10:00)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)PMI Retail (EU) (09:00)PMI Retail (GER) (08:55)Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)Producer Prices (FRA) (07:45)Retail Sales (JPN)Q2AstraZeneca, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B'GMSMitchells & Butlers, Monitise, QonnectisFINALSAngle, Antisoma, British Sky Broadcasting GroupIMSSHalma, Northumbrian Water Group, Titon Holdings, United DrugAGMSAcal, BSS Group, Byotrol, Chariot Oil & Gas, China Private Equity Investment, Elektron, GB Group, Halma, Hornby, Hyder Consulting, Northumbrian Water Group, Opsec Security, Pennon Group, QinetiQ Group, Record, SerVision, Torotrak, Yell GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSInchcapeUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (09:30)M4 Money Supply (09:30)M4 Sterling Lending (09:30)Mortgage Approvals (09:30)PMI Retail (09:30)Nationwide House Prices (00:01)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECaffyns, Rensburg AIM VCTQ1ToshibaFriday July 30INTERIMSAnglo American, Charter International, Dignity, HT-Hrvatske Telekomunikacije D.D GDR (Reg S), Invista Real Estate Investment Management Holdings, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Jardine Matheson (Singapore), Jardine Strategic (Singapore), Manganese Bronze, Rentokil Initial, United Business MediaINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEChrysalis VCT, Octopus Phoenix VCT, Paragon Group Of CompaniesQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEHenderson Global Property Companies Ltd., Land Securities Group, Mercantile Inv Trust, Schroder Income Growth Fund, Torchmark CorpINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSChicago PMI (US) (14:45)Employment Cost Index (US) (13:30)Gross Domestic Product (US) (13:30)International Reserves (EU) (11:00)U. of Michigan Confidence (US) (15:00)Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00)Milwaukee NAPM (US) (15.00)Consumer Price Index estimate (EU) (10:00)Jobless Rate (JPN)Consumer Price Index (JPN)Industrial Production (JPN)Housing Starts (JPN)Construction Orders (JPN)GMSIncaGold, Leo Insurance Services, Narborough Plant, Rugby Estates, Scott WilsonEGMSSirius Real Estate Ltd., Trikona Trinity Capital, VeltiAGMSBellzone Mining, BlueStar SecuTech, Cinpart, Creon Corporation, E2V Technologies, Homeserve, ING Global Real Estate Securities, Kingswalk Investments Ltd., Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust, Plastics Capital, Red Leopard Holdings, Renaissance US Growth Inv Trust, Velti, X-PhonicsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSGFK Consumer Confidence (00:01)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberdeen All Asia Inv Trust, Acal, Aveva Group, Brown (N.) Group, BSS Group, Dee Valley Group, Downing Planned Exit VCT 3 'C' Shares, Downing Protected VCT VI, Downing Protected VCT VII, Edinburgh Inv Trust, KCOM Group, Kiotech International, Schroder UK Growth Fund, Severn Trent, Tate & Lyle, TP70 2008 (I) VCT, TP70 2008 (II) VCT, VelosiQ1British Airways