Fuller Smith & Turner Share News (FSTA)

The end of the week appropriately enough sees the focus switch to beer, and London brewer and pubs group Fuller Smith & Turner, which brings out interim figures.Broker KBC Peel Hunt is forecasting profit before tax of £14.8m and earnings per share of 18.9p, which would represent year on year growth of 6.7%."It has been a good summer, although trading conditions were better near the beginning than the end. Fuller's invested in eight central London pub sites in H1-09. However, as all but one of these was in the first six weeks, the year-on-year effect may be limited," the broker noted. The broker says the shares are not cheap, but recommends buying them nonetheless. "This is a quality operation with a good mix of caution and aspiration, backed by first-rate London property," it opines, a view which tallies with that of Numis Securities.Numis analyst Douglas Jack views Fullers "as the highest quality pub operator, worthy of its premium rating."Rotork, which makes electric, pneumatic and hydraulic valve controllers, saw record revenues and profits in the first half of the year, despite what it termed a challenging trading environment.Since hitting a 52-week high of 1895p a month or so ago the shares are down about 8%, suggesting the company will need another strong trading update on Friday to get the share price heading north again.The groundwork has been set, with the company boasting a strong order book at the halfway stage. Currency movements and commodity price increases have been a concern but activity in the energy sector, a major client of the company, has been ramping up in the second half of the year.INTERIMSFuller Smith & TurnerINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberforth Geared Income Trust, Bloomsbury Publishing, Hunting, Intertek Group, M&C Saatchi, NTT DoCoMo Inc, Octopus AIM VCT, Standard Life, Walker GreenbankINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSDepartment Store Sales (JPN)Supermarket Saless (JPN)Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)Wage Growth (FRA) (07:45)Q3New World Resources NV (DI)IMSSBisichi Mining, FBD Holdings, Rotork, T ClarkeSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATERensburg AIM VCT, TR European Growth TrustEGMSNewRiver Retail Ltd. (Reg S)AGMS1pm, Anglo & Overseas, Greenko Group, Matchtech Group, North River Resources, NorthamberFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECity of London Investment Group, Close Brothers Group, Go-Ahead Group, Hansard Global, Hays, Smiths Group, TR European Growth Trust