Quarterly inflation report awaited

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee will publish its quarterly inflation report on Wednesday

Published: 12:01am, 12th February 2012
Updated: 3:24am, 13th February 2012

The Bank of England will give a clearer insight into how deep and long it expects the current downturn in the economy to last when it publishes its quarterly inflation report on Wednesday.

The Bank's monetary policy committee is expected to hold firm with its forecasts for growth and inflation as economic indicators reveal a recovery to be on a knife edge.

While official figures revealed a 0.2% contraction in the final quarter of last year, industry surveys for January have offered some hope for the outlook. However, the Bank once again flagged the potential threat the eurozone debt crisis poses to the UK recovery as it justified its decision to pump an additional £50 billion into its quantitative easing programme.

In its last quarterly report in November, it forecast gross domestic product to grow by no more than 1% in both 2011 and 2012 and inflation to hit the Government's 2% target in the second half of this year before falling to as low as around 1.3% in 2013.

A new batch of gaming machines and the increasing popularity of online gambling is expected to boost Ladbrokes' results when the bookmaking giant announces its results on Thursday.

The group, which runs 2,100 betting shops across the UK, said winnings from its gaming machines rose by 20.4% to an average per week of £866 in the three months to September 30, and further growth is expected in the final quarter.

Online sales are also set for growth after an advertising push to help it gain ground with rivals such as Wink Bingo owner 888. It has offered to match first-time bets of up to £50 to entice people to try their luck on its website. Analyst Ivor Jones, of Numis Securities, expects the group to report a strong final quarter, following in the footsteps of rival William Hill.

Also on Thursday, the new boss of Cable & Wireless Worldwide will reveal his strategy for turning the ailing telecoms firm around in a bid to appease angry shareholders.

The group, which provides high-speed telecoms services to the police and companies including Tesco, has issued three profits warnings in the space of a year. It reported heavy losses in the six months to September 30 and shares plunged 75% after it decided to pull future dividend payments to shareholders.

Former Vodafone executive Gavin Darby, who became the third chief executive in a year in November, will address the market for the first time when he outlines plans to turn the company around and soothe shareholders angry at the generous pay dished out to former executives despite the company's poor performance.