"And it's not as though he is going to come out and say anything before all the votes have been counted. "There is indeed no corporate sponsor for the event, but tickets are selling well to members."But even if the Tories' traditional sponsors have washed their hands of Michael Howard already, the outgoing leader is expected to ruffle a few feathers with his final speech."Michael's support for David Cameron over David Davis is not much of a secret," says a party source. The bash, which is to be held at the Banqueting Hall on Whitehall on 28 November, is to be attended by a selection of Conservative grandees, with the rest of the tickets going to party members on a first-come, first-served basis. In part a good way for Howard to say goodbye to his closest supporters, this has also been necessitated by the lack of sponsorship for the evening."It has been arranged by the party itself," says a spokesman. The Conservative Party is planning a grand farewell dinner for the outgoing leader in his final week at the helm.
Before Michael Howard packs his bags and heads into retirement, he plans a final dance in the limelight. Its ships also played important roles in both World Wars, carrying troops, munitions, raw materials and food (it lost 182 ships in the Second World War).. Founded 170 years ago, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company was once the largest and most varied shipping business in the world. It played a key role in the British empire, taking passengers and mail to Britain's far flung overseas possessions. Interims - Autonomy; Alliance UniChem; Carphone Warehouse; Danka Business Systems; First Group; ICI; International Power; London Stock Exchange; Millenium & Copthorn; Pilkington; Shanks Group; Shire Pharmaceuticals; Tate & Lyle; Unilever.FRIDAY: Results: Full year - None Interims - British Airways; BskyB.. But in the longer term, the broker cannot see the stock making significant progress as higher input costs look set to hold back earnings for some time.Results: Full year - Asia Energy; McCarthy & Stone. The latter will be the product of both cost pressures on the consumer goods giant and higher marketing spend.
Given that the City is currently more concerned about Unilever's top line health than its bottom line progress, such a performance is likely to cause the group's shares to rally in the near term, according to ABN. Investors can expect a slight rise in Pilkington's interim dividend to around 1.9p a share.Relative to the first half, ABN Amro forecasts Unilever's third quarter to be characterised by better sales trends but weaker profit margins. The ongoing cost reduction programme will also have also given the bottom line a boost. A 20 per cent rise in first half pre-tax profits is expected at the group but will be thanks to income from its engineering business and the licensing of some of its technology. In the coming year, ICI's management will be hoping for a retreat in the price of crude and that global economic activity does not weaken significantly.Trading continues to be tough for all of Pilkington's key glass markets. Interims - BAA; Matalan; Strategic Regail; Surfcontrol; TTP Communications..WEDNESDAY: Results: Full year - Armour; Phytopharm. Interims - Theo Fennell.THURSDAY: Third quarter profits at ICI will be little changed on the £123m achieved by the chemicals giant last year as the high price of oil has been holding back the group's performance.
