Following 'Black Monday' investors will be wary of companies as a global sell-off saw substantial losses for a number of firms.
Particularly affected were the miners, with a number suffering 5% losses.
Anglo-Aussie mining giant BHP Billiton was one such company, losing as much as 10% yesterday as concerns over China's economy sent investors into panic mode.
If the company can meet expectations, or even surpass them, the company could pare some of the losses it made on Monday.
But it is not releasing its results at a particularly auspicious time for the mining sector, and there remain concerns that its cash flow does not come anywhere close to covering its dividend at current spot commodity prices, assuming it sticks with its capital expenditure (capex) programme.
Broker Liberum think it is the capex guidance that will be cut, not the dividend, in Tuesday’s results statement.
Investec added: “We expect market focus to continue being on how BHP can protect its US$6.5bn progressive dividend policy, given the ongoing collapse in commodity prices.
“While we expect operating cash flows to cover this, with capacity to reduce operating costs further, it appears increasingly likely that BHP will need to gear up to finance its longer-term growth.“
Elsewhere, office space owner Regus (LON:RGU) is expected to continue the progress shown in its first quarter.
Broker Investec said: “Overall, we expect this update to provide further evidence that underlying trading conditions remain positive and the network investment is continuing to deliver good returns.”
It forecasts profit of £62.3mln on revenues of £924.2mln for the first half of the year, boosted by continued improvement in its centre performance and overhead efficiencies.
Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: “The previous trading update showed that the company added a further 81 locations and the total number of work stations increased to 368,243.
“These helped group revenues increase by 15% however growth in sales was also driven by mature centres offering enhanced services. For the second quarter we are expecting more of the same.”
Tuesday’s agenda:
Interims: Al Noor Hospitals Group (LON:ANH), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), Capital Drilling (LON:CAPD), FBD Holdings (LON:FBH), Fisher (James) & Sons (LON:FSJ), Gulf Marine (LON:GMS), Nostrum Oil & Gas (LON:NOG) Petrofac (LON:PFC), Polymetal International (LON:POLY), Puretech Health (LON:PRTC), Regus (LON:RGU),
Final: BHP Billiton (LON:BLT)
Economic: UK – BBA mortgage approvals; Index of services. US – Consumer confidence; Services PMI; New home sales