LONDON REPORT
STANDARD Life is set to end the life insurance reporting season tomorrow, following a solid first quarter where assets under administration rose more than expected.
The Edinburgh group is hoping for a boost soon from auto-enrolment, where employees will be automatically enrolled into their existing employers’ pension scheme or a new personal account.
It is also keen to gain market share from the introduction of the retail distribution review, which will ban commission payments to intermediaries. Standard Life already operates on the preferred fee-based model.
Wednesday will see the release of the minutes from the August meeting of the Bank of England’s policy-making team, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Economists will be looking with interest to see whether all members agreed with governor Mervyn King that no more financial stimulus is necessary.
Other economic highlights include inflation data tomorrow and unemployment data on Wednesday.
Britain’s biggest recruiter Michael Page is set to report today, along with Petrofac.
Tomorrow sees reports or updates from Henderson Group, John Menzies, Anglo Pacific Group, Mears Group, John Menzies, Standard Life and Essar Energy.
On Wednesday construction group Balfour Beatty updates the market, along with ENRC, Eurasian Natural Resources and Interserve. HMV is also set to hold an extraordinary general meeting.
On Thursday Cineworld is set to report, while Dairy Crest will have its annual general meeting. The estimated retail sales for July will also be released.
On Friday Rank Group will release its full-year results.