Wednesday 14 UK: Results: ((F) Caffe Nero; (I) Genetix, Incisive Media, Provident Financial, SDL, SIG, Xaar. It’s another busy week in the housing industry with Bovis and Redrow releasing their results. Conditions have been tough in the sector due to weaker UK demand, although analysts say Redrow appears better placed. Meanwhile, the UK’s largest gas distributor, Centrica, reports this week. It pre-empted the release last Friday with news that 2005 earnings would be at the lower end of estimates because of rising gas and power prices. There will also be interest in the unemployment figures, and another batch of retail sales data. While higher energy prices are bad for the economy, they should be good for Premier Oil, which is releasing its results.

There will be investor interest in how its drilling programme is progressing. Oil services group John Wood is also reporting and its most recent trading update showed that its business was growing. Deloitte, its closest rival, could manage only single- figure growth of 8.8 per cent when it reported last month. It is also an interesting week for economists, who will keep a keen eye on the UK inflation figures for August, which are released on Tuesday. Investec economist David Page expects the consumer price index to increase to an annual rate of 2.4 per cent due to higher energy prices. There will also be interest in the results of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the UK’s biggest accountancy firm and auditor to most of the FTSE 100.

PwC is set to report a return to double-digit growth when it posts its annual results on Tuesday, ending a two-year run of poor performance. Sales of its life insurance and pensions rose 33 per cent in the first half, it said in July, as the company received a boost from recent acquisitions. Investors will be looking for signs that margins at its UK business have improved. Meanwhile, at Provident Financial, analysts expect a drop in profits due to a collapse in the second-hand car market.