Week Ahead: Time for Royal Dutch to shell out more

LONDON (ShareCast) - If you want to keep track of big company results at 7:00am on Thursday morning you are going to need at least four computer screens and as many eyeballs as the mythical creature Argus, as drugs giant AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN.L - news) , oil behemoth Royal Dutch Shell, medical devices maker Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN.L - news) and consumer goods colossus Unilever (Other OTC: UNLNF.PK - news) are all set to announce full-year results. Integrated oil company Royal Dutch Shell is tipped by Charles Stanley to report fourth quarter net income of $5.3bn, up from $4.1bn the year before. "In our opinion, the key look-outs in Royal Dutch Shell's Q4 [fourth quarter] results will be the cash flow and the dividend outlook," writes Charles Stanley analyst Tony Shepard. "Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) has held the quarterly dividend at 42 cents for 3 years but the improved cash flow of the Group in 2011 and more importantly for 2012 should give it the opportunity to increase the quarterly dividend," Shepard suggests, though he is not holding out hope for a huge increase; 44 cents is Shepard's guess. "In addition, Shell may announce an extension of some of its strategic targets. For example, it expected to deliver a 50%-80% uplift in operational cash flow between 2009-2012, in a $60-$80 oil price environment. With its large new projects now underway, new cash flow guidance beyond 2012 could be issued," Shepard believes. Shepard also highlights the sharp deterioration in refining markets in the fourth quarter, especially in North America. On top of that, Shell's performance will also be affected by "a weaker European gas (Xetra: A0H09W - news) market and higher maintenance costs in some of the Upstream activities." Throw in some operational problems "such as the leak at the Bonga (Nigeria) offshore field" and a lack of success in Tanzania, then a higher exploration write-off is expected. Earlier in the week chip-designer ARM announces its full-year results. The company has done very well out of the boom in demand for mobile hand-held communications devices, and Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) 's block-busting results announced recently suggest that the smartphone bandwagon is still rattling along at a fair old lick. Market consensus is for 2011 profit before tax to storm up to £183.0m from £110.0m in 2010. Revenue is tipped to climb to £477.5m from £406.6m. ARM is no one's idea of a dividend stock but the market thinks the full-year divi will be ramped up to 3.34p from 2.90p. Monday January 30 INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Monks Inv Trust QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Dow Chemical Co INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00) Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU) (10:00) Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30) Personal Income (US) (13:30) Personal Spending (US) (13:30) PMI Retail (EU) (09:00) PMI Retail (GER) (08:55) GMS Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) , Mecom Group (LSE: MEC.L - news) , New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. (DI) FINALS Bank Millennium SA, OJSC Magnit GDR (Reg S), SThree (Berlin: S8T.BE - news) ANNUAL REPORT Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust AGMS Weather Lottery (The) TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS OJSC Novolipetsk Steel GDS (Reg S) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Albemarle (Xetra: 890167 - news) & Bond Holdings Tuesday January 31 INTERIMS British Sky Broadcasting Group, Filtronic (Munich: 897725 - news) , Gold Oil (Frankfurt: A0DK4Z - news) , Mattioli Woods (Berlin: M5L.BE - news) INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Albion Income & Growth VCT, F&C Global Smaller Companies, Jupiter Second Split Trust Geared Shares QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE JP Morgan Chase & Co, Middlefield Canadian Income PCC INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Chicago PMI (US) (13:45) Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00) GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00) International Reserves (EU) (11:00) Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00) Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55) Q2 British Sky Broadcasting Group Q4 ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) FINALS ARM Holdings, Ocado Group (Xetra: A1C2GZ - news) ANNUAL REPORT PXP Vietnam Fund Ltd. IMSS Carpetright (Xetra: 904879 - news) , Phoenix IT Group (LSE: PNX.L - news) SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE European Investment Trust EGMS ARC Capital Holdings Ltd. AGMS Armour Group (Berlin: DXT.BE - news) , CareCapital Group (Berlin: R3I.BE - news) , Intandem Films (Berlin: I1Z.BE - news) , JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust, Vatukoula Gold Mines (Other OTC: VATKF.PK - news) UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Consumer Confidence (09:30) GFK Consumer Confidence (00:01) Mortgage Approvals (09:30) Trends in Lending (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE European Investment Trust, Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund, Topps Tiles (LSE: TPT.L - news) Wednesday February 01 INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Brulines Group, FirstGroup (Other OTC: FGROF.PK - news) , KCOM Group (Xetra: 924274 - news) , United Utilities Group INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Amati VCT (LSE: ATI.L - news) , Daejan Holdings, Latchways (LSE: LTC.L - news) , Pennon Group (Other OTC: PEGRF.PK - news) , Tricorn Group (Berlin: UPT.BE - news) QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Mercantile Inv Trust, Torchmark Corp (Frankfurt: 866408 - news) . INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Auto Sales (US) (15:00) Construction Spending (US) (15:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00) ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) PMI Manufacturing (EU) (09:00) PMI Manufacturing (GER) (08:55) FINALS Piaggio (Milan: PIA.MI - news) & C Spa, Piaggio & C Spa IMSS United Utilities Group AGMS Imperial Tobacco Group (Dusseldorf: 517719.DU - news) UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS PMI Manufacturing (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Marston's, SVM Global Fund FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Fenner (LSE: FENR.L - news) Thursday February 02 INTERIMS Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di) INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE ProVen VCT (LSE: PVN.L - news) , Robert Wiseman Dairies INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45) Continuing Claims (US) (13:30) Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30) Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00) Productivity (US) (13:30) Q2 Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di) Q4 AstraZeneca, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B', Smith & Nephew, Unilever (Amsterdam: UNIA.AS - news) GMS Baltic Oil Terminals FINALS AstraZeneca, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B', Smith & Nephew, Unilever IMSS Great Portland Estates (Other OTC: GPEAF.PK - news) , Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) , Workspace Group AGMS Avon Rubber (LSE: AVON.L - news) , Compass Group (Other OTC: CMPGF.PK - news) , Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust, Numis Corporation (LSE: NUM.L - news) , Standard Life European Private Equity Trust UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS PMI Construction (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE WH Smith (Other OTC: WHTPF.PK - news) Friday February 03 INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Aveva Group (Berlin: 4A9.BE - news) , Bisichi Mining (LSE: BISI.L - news) , Mothercare (LSE: MTC.L - news) , Vodafone Group INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Factory Orders (US) (15:00) Goods Orders (US) (15:00) ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00) ISM Services (US) (15:00) Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30) PMI Composite (EU) (09:00) PMI Composite (GER) (08:55) PMI Services (EU) (09:00) PMI Services (GER) (08:55) Retail Sales (EU) (10:00) Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30) Q3 BT Group (LSE: BT-A.L - news) FINALS Banco Espirito Santo SA IMSS Electrocomponents (Xetra: 862727 - news) SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Vodafone Group UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Official Reserves (09:30) PMI Services (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Lonmin (Berlin: LRH.BE - news) , Next Fifteen Communications, Schroder Asia Pacific Fund, Smiths News (LSE: NWS.L - news)