JJB.L Share News (JJB)

Hedge fund manager Man Group gives a pre-close trading update and as usual most of the attention will be on how well the "black box" used by its flagship AHL fund has been doing in predicting market movements. The fund has pulled out of a slump in recent months though the Japanese government's uncharacteristic intervention in foreign exchange markets to try and drive down the price of the Japanese yen may have caused Man a bit of pain, broker Singer Capital Markets reckons.As such, the broker argues, the first half will "see little in the way of performance fees" and Singer has downgraded its full year profit estimates accordingly. The broker thinks assets under management (AUM) will rise slightly to $40.3bn from the $38.5bn reported at the end of June. "Sales of private investor funds are likely to have remained muted given AHL underwhelming performance and seasonal effects. We expect net outflows from private investor funds of $0.5bn (sales $0.5bn, redemptions $1bn) in Q2 making net outflows for H1 of $1.1bn. Performance was better in Q2 and AHL has risen 2.6% since March to date. Some further positive rebalancing and FX will have helped headline AUM we expect," the broker added. "Institutional AUM at end March amounted to $11.4bn. The company have already indicated that some $0.3bn of quarterly redemptions were paid on 1st July and we estimate that overall redemptions in Q2 will have been some $0.5bn, the lowest quarterly level for over three years," it added.Sticking with the financial sector, merchant bank Close Brothers said on 23 July that it expects "a solid overall performance for the 2010 full financial year." As that statement was made barely a week before the company's financial year ended, it seems safe to assume it will make good on that claim.If it makes profit before tax in excess of £119.2m it will be able to say it beat market expectations. Last year, underlying pre-tax profit was £114m.Favourable market conditions helped the merchant bank improve the loan book to £2.9bn on 30 June from £2.6bn at the end of January and £2.7bn in the third quarter. Things were a bit more subdued on the fund management side while conditions became "more difficult" for the securities division as the fourth quarter wore on.According to HMV's trading statement at the beginning of the month the video games market has been weak, with publishers holding off from summer releases - possibly in the expectation that gamers would be glued to their TVs as usual, but this time watching the World Cup. That does not bode well for computer games retailer Game Group which issues interim results on Tuesday.In the middle of June Game revealed that in the preceding 19 weeks total group sales were 11.4% lower than a year earlier. That represented an improvement on the situation after 11 weeks of the new financial year, when group sales were down 13.3%. On a like for like (LFL) basis sales were down 12.3% compared to a 14.4% shortfall at the 11-weeks stage. With the effects of the Nintendo DSi launch in 2009 stripped out group LFL sales were down by 8.4%.Singer Capital Markets is expecting continued improvement in the LFL sales trend as the comparatives get weaker. It is going for loss before tax of £15.5m, compared to a profit in the first half of last year of £14.5m."Current trading is likely to have shown some improvement given the launches of the Sony Move and Halo Reach. We look forward to hearing new CEO Ian Shepherd's initial findings since his arrival at the end of June but a full strategy update is not expected until the new year," the broker said. KBC Peel Hunt is also expecting Game to revert to what it terms its "traditional" first half loss, and has pencilled in a figure of £14.1m. Further down the road, however, the company should benefit from new hardware releases over the next six months. Notwithstanding that, the broker expects new chief executive officer Ian Shepherd "will be focused on softening the cycle and positing Game in the driving seat for on-line distribution over the medium term."Elsewhere on the high street replica kit and trainers seller JJB Sports also releases interim results. Here, Singer is forecasting interim losses to more or less halve to £21.9m from £42.9m the year before. "Given concerns about cash burn and inventory funding, we will be looking closely at the period end financing position and related commentary. Having had £5.6m net cash as at 23 May, and despite having enjoyed a boost from the World Cup, we expect the group to have dipped down into net debt, possibly in the order of £5-10m. This in part reflects a reversion to normal quarterly in advance rents in June (worth almost £10m extra versus monthly) and inventory build," the broker predicts. It's an important day on the economic front. With the Autumn spending review looming government statisticians will be keen to see whether the slightly surprising estimate of second quarter growth in gross domestic product will stay at an eye-catching 1.2% (+1.7% year on year).The figure often shifts about as more data comes in but economists are predicting that the previous estimate will be confirmed but, in the words of economist Dr. Howard Archer, that may be as good as it gets for UK economic growth for some time. "Latest data and survey evidence point to a clear moderation in activity in the third quarter (we expect GDP growth of 0.5% quarter-on-quarter), and economic activity seems set to be pressurized over the coming months by major fiscal tightening increasingly kicking in, serious constraints on consumers, persistently tight credit conditions and slower global growth. Consequently, we expect GDP growth to be limited to 1.6% in 2010, and expect a similar outturn in 2011," Dr. Archer said.INTERIMSAG Barr, Atlantic Global, Augean, Eco City Vehicles, Game Group, GVC Holdings, Japan Leisure Hotels, JJB Sports, NEOVIA FinancialINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHiscoxINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEToshibaQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEYamana Gold IncINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSSmall Business Confidence (JPN)Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)Consumer Spending (FRA) (07:45)Consumer Prices Index (GER) Consumer Confidence (EU) (10:00)Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (US) (15:00)ABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)GMSBlackRock Commodities Income Inv Trust, Evolve CapitalFINALSAI Claims Solutions, Albemarle & Bond, Close Brothers Group, Ludgate Environmental Fund, Ricardo GroupSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish Smaller Companies VCTEGMSMercator GoldAGMSCBaySystems Holdings (Reg S), ECO Animal Health Group, Jacques Vert, Minco, Private and Commercial, Sirius Exploration, Surface TransformsTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSDaily Mail and General Trust, Future, Man Group, Thomas Cook GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Payments (09:30)Current Account (09:30)GDP (quarterly national accounts) (09:30)Total Business Investment (09:30)CBI Reported Sales Index (11:00)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBritish Smaller Companies VCT, Micro Focus International Plc