The Week Ahead: Help to Buy back in the spotlight

The Help to Buy scheme will be back in the spotlight this week, as pressure mounts on the Government to reconsider the plan. Nationwide house price data and BBA mortgage approval figures will be published at the start of the week while on Thursday the Treasury will publish its first statistical report on the scheme.

Investec thinks the Treasury report will “provide a focus for government thinking” about what to do, a week after Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, warned rising house prices could put the recovery at risk. The possible implications will put housebuilders in the frame, while Telford Homes also has full-year figures out tomorrow.

Elsewhere, the corporate calendar starts with finals from specialist engineering software firm Aveva and a trading update from Irn Bru maker AG Barr today.

Tomorrow brings full-year results from the banknote printer De La Rue and cloud computing firm Iomart, as well as half-year figures from the wealth manager Brewin Dolphin. There will also be a management update from Finnish Talvivaara Mining, which recently announced plans to de-list from the London exchange.

Sweetener giant Tate & Lyle’s full-year results on Thursday are likely to leave a bitter taste. February’s trading update saw the outlook change from another year of growth to flat profits, thanks to pricing pressure and trouble in emerging markets. Numis predicts a dip in pre-tax profit to £324m.

Water giant Severn Trent has full-year figures that day, while B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher, updates on trading. Sheridan Admans of The Share Centre says investors will be hoping for strong sales growth and margin performance as the retail market stabilises. He also advises looking out for news on Kingfisher’s hunt for a partner in China.