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cigarette giant British American Tobacco is also on the schedule for a third-quarter update on Wednesday, in which it is expected to reported a 5% increase in organic revenues (constant currency basis) for the nine months to September 30th, according to Panmure Gordon last week. This will be an acceleration from the 4% growth reported in the first half, driven by improved pricing, the broker said. Group volumes are forecast to fall by one billion sticks, or 0.1%, to 522bn over the nine-month period. Panmure said: "Tobacco stocks have been weak recently, impacted by negative regulatory news flow and a more general switch out of defensive names. Year to date BATS' shares have underperformed the FTSE All Share by 1.3%, recording an absolute gain of 5.9%." The broker said that the valuation - shares were trading last week at 14.3 times earnings - is undemanding "given the strength of the underlying cash flows.............

Consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser is due to report its third-quarter results on Wednesday. The company, whose 'powerbrands' include Vanish, Harpic, Cillit Bang and Finish, is expected to report a 3.8% organic sales growth rate on the guided metric (excluding RB Pharmaceuticals and including Foods), according to consensus estimates. Investec, however, predicts a 3.1% increase - "a low-end view", it admits. "We note the one percentage point tougher comp than Q2, continuing challenges in Southern Europe and hints of a slowdown in Asia," said analyst Martin Deboo in a research report on Monday. "We continue to see the impending change of CFO as a positive catalyst and are warming to the Reckitt story. But there are some difficult H2 waters to navigate," Deboo said.

Positive Points The results have broadly exceeded analyst forecasts. Management comments noted "royalty revenues outpaced the industry with continued market share gains in key end markets including digital TVs and microcontrollers." The company enjoys diversity in both the products in which its designed chips are used and the geographical footprint of its customers. Many leading technology companies have announced details of their ARM-based product developments in recent months. These include Microsoft providing more details on upcoming WindowsRT devices, with confirmed product announcements from Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and Microsoft. ARM's processors are used as the main central processing unit (CPU) in many mobile phones, handheld devices and GPS navigation systems, including those manufactured by Apple, HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Nintendo. A progressive dividend policy continues to be followed. An interim dividend of 1.67 pence per share was previously announced, an increase of 20% over the 2011 interim dividend of 1.39 pence per share.

Negative Points Intel continues to try to compete against ARM, offering technology of a similar nature and attacking its core smartphone and tablet arena. The high valuation is seen by some analysts as providing little scope for disappointment. Given valuation concerns, some scepticism towards previous takeover speculation has been voice

Financial Highlights: Group revenue rose by 20% to £144.6 million. Profit before tax increased by 22% to £68.1 millio

Third quarter update: The group's results came in at the higher end of analyst forecasts, with the share price up by over 3% in early trade. Smartphone technology remained an important ingredient in the company's growth, with the 2.2 billion chips shipped in the quarter split equally between mobile and non-mobile segments. 29 processor licences were signed during the period across a broad range of applications, including deeply embedded products such as chips for hearing aids and automotive braking systems, and consumer electronics such as smartphones, TVs and tablets. Processor royalty revenue grew by 27% year-over-year, with management noting that "royalty revenues outpaced the industry, with continued market share gains in key end markets including digital TVs and microcontrollers." In all, analyst consensus opinion continues to denote a buy............but as always do your own research and good luck

Company overview Founded in 1990, ARM is a leading global designer of microprocessor chips. The partner companies who adopt ARM technology pay an up-front licence fee to gain access to a design and also a royalty on every chip that uses the licensed design. A single licence is the starting point for many different ARM Powered® chip designs and in 2010, ARM partners shipped over six billion ARM Powered chips. Its designs are used in the majority of the world's mobile phones, along with a growing range of other digital electronic products. The group is headquartered in Cambridge in the UK and is a constituent of the FTSE-100 index.

Positive Points: Accompanying management comments noted that "Premier Inn is benefitting from a structural shift in the UK towards strong branded hotels. Costa's growth is supported by its leading UK position in a robust category, together with exciting international opportunities." Premier Inn UK total sales grew by 12.9%, with like for like sales up 3.7%. Premier opened 1,591 net UK rooms taking the total to 49,020. Total Costa sales rose by 25.0%, with like for like UK sales up 6.8%. Total restaurant sales grew by 5.3%, with like for like sales up 3.4%. Premier Inn International reported total occupancy up 6.1% to 56.2%, with like for like revenue per available room (revpar) up 34.8%. Costa Asia reported strong growth with China delivering a like for like sales increase of 19.2%. It opened 37 new stores bringing its Asia total number of stores to 201. Management previously outlined five-year growth milestones (to 2015/16) to increase the number of Premier Inn UK rooms to at least 65,000, add 80-100 new Restaurants and to nearly double the size of Costa with global system sales of £1.3 billion and 3,500 stores worldwide. The Group spent £187.6 million on capital during the half compared to £129.0 million last year. The increase in expenditure was in line with it five year plan. A progressive dividend policy continues to be pursued. The half year dividend was increased by 11.4% to 19.5 pence (2011/12: 17.5 pence)..........................

Negative Points: Management outlook comments provided some caution. The Chief Executive highlighted that like for like sales growth was expected to be more moderate than the high levels achieved in the first half. Group net debt increased marginally compared to 1st September 2011, rising to £525.8 million from £520.1 million. Competition remains intense across the group's various business arenas. Home goods retailer Ikea is thought to be considering the building and development of at least 100 budget hotels across Europe. As at 30th August 2012, there was a staff pension deficit of £640.0 million, up from the £598.7 million recorded as of 1st March 2012. Further possible rises in the price of both coffee and food could provide potential cost pressures going forward.

Financial Highlights: Total group revenue rose by 14.2% to £1.02 billion (2011/12: £891.3 million). Group like-for-like sales increased by 4.3%. Adjusted or underlying profit before tax grew by 10.6% to £193.4 million (2011/12: £174.9 million). Group net debt increased compared to 1st September 2011, rising to £525.8 million from £520.1 million. Half year dividend increased by 11.4% to 19.5 pence (2011/12: 17.5 pence).

Half year results: Whitbread continues to show growth characteristics. In a week of disappointing earnings on both sides of the pond, Whitbread is flying the flag as an example of an established company showing growth stock characteristics. Most of the boost comes from the twin growth engines of Costa and Premier Inn, where the Olympics provided a tangible benefit for the latter. With international opportunities providing further room for manoeuvre, the company has been able to reinvest in the business and also maintain its progressive dividend policy. An element of caution comes in the form of a net debt figure which edged higher and a rather more conservative outlook for the second half. However, by tapping into the consumer zeitgeist, Whitbread continues to appeal to the cash strapped consumer and the shares have reacted accordingly, having risen 39% over the last year as compared to a 7% hike in the wider FTSE100. The share price reaction in early trade (down over 2%) may well contain an element of profit taking,

Company overview Whitbread Group PLC is a UK based hospitality company, managing several popular brands in hotels, restaurants and coffee houses, including Premier Inn, Table Table, Brewers Fayre, Taybarns, Beefeater and Costa Coffee. The company's headquarters are based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. The company was founded as a brewery by Samuel Whitbread and Thomas Shewell in 1799 but, after a long history of brewing, the company decided in 2001 to sell all its breweries and brewing interests to Interbrew. Today the group employs over 40,000 people and serves over 20 million customers every month in over 2,000 outlets across the UK. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Whitbread: Investec maintains sell rating and 1,650p target; Nomura maintains buy rating and 2,650p target; Panmure Gordon keeps hold rating and 1,994p target; Investec keeps sell rating and 1,650p target.

Unilever: Oriel Securities downgrades to hold, target raised from 2,200p to 2,320p.

SDL: Goldman Sachs cuts target from 915p to 820p, buy rating kept.

Redrow: UBS downgrades to neutral, target lifted from 160p to 170p.

Mulberry: Barclays Capital cuts target from 1,600p to 1,250p, equal weight rating kept; Panmure Gordon slashes target from 2,000p to 1,100p, buy rating kept.

Laird: Investec keeps hold rating and 225p target.

Inchcape: Panmure Gordon keeps hold rating and 430p target.

Hammerson: Jefferies raises target from 501p to 503p, hold rating kep