Investors will also be hearing from Barclays, household goods group Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls-Royce and BT.Analysts expect the telecoms giant to post pre-tax profits of around pounds 532m, edging ahead from last year’s pounds 526m. Analysts have already speculated that AstraZeneca could be an attractive target for GlaxoSmithKline, while others believe that America’s Eli Lilly is on the radar.Regardless of which target GlaxoSmith-Kline eventually settles on, it is thought to be keen on securing a deal.Among other heavyweights addressing the market, oil giant BP follows on from Shell’s results last week with its fourth-quarter numbers. Take the currency problems out of the equation and the numbers should look stronger, while deal rumours continue to surround the group. Currency fluctuations are likely to hit earnings, with pre-tax profits falling from pounds 6.72bn to pounds 6.07bn.However, it is not all doom and gloom at the UK’s biggest drugs company. As well as annual results from Unilever – which will unveil a new strategy, a shake-up of the management structure and a hefty write- down – drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline will be revealing full-year numbers.Two issues are dogging drugs companies – generic competition and growing concern over safety issues – and GlaxoSmithKline investors will want updates on both. The troubled Channel Tunnel operator is expected to send out a so-called waiver to creditor banks, which is likely to lead, eventually, to a big debt-for-equity swap.

Under company law, if a company begins serious negotiations on its debts, it is technically in default unless 75 per cent of the banks sign the waiver. In a sign of how bad things have got, it is also expected to announce plans to delay the publication of its final results until March. Eurotunnel normally publishes in mid-February so the delay will worry shareholders and creditors, who are already nervous there may be more bad news to come on the state of the finances.
Eurotunnel is not the only under-pressure company likely to make the news, however. Eurotunnel will start formal negotiations with creditors this week over its pounds 6.4bn debt mountain. In a tie-up with the Hyde housing association, which covers a large area in south-east England, the furniture store chain is to expand its empire by selling one- and two-bed timber- frame flatpack homes.
Expected to retail for about pounds 60,000 to pounds 70,000, they will be marketed in store but won’t be available off the shelf.While most Ikea kit is self-assembly, the homes will have to be built by professionals on sites bought by Boklok, a body set up in the UK to look for suitable land for development.Likely to be built in blocks of six, the new-builds will fit in with the plans of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for ready-made cheap homes that can help first-time buyers on to the property ladder. Imagine it as a fund that lets lots of investors pool their cash together to buy company shares. Those who choose to invest in stock markets by making use of their pounds 7,000 individual savings account (ISA) allowance, will usually do so via a unit trust.

Yet it’s no laughing matter when cash machines, one of our greatest modern public conveniences, come at a cost.
A parliamentary inquiry into fees – it typically costs pounds 1.50 to pounds 2 to withdraw cash at charging ATMs – has shunted these machines out of late- night clubs and kebab shops and into the spotlight.Much of the brouhaha swirls around the likelihood that, by the end of this year, half of all ATMs will charge (the figure is 40 per cent today). With some expenses, such as energy bills, it can even save you money.For more information go to you need help from our consumer champion, write to Sindie at The Independent on Sunday, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS or email sindie independent.co.uk. Moreover, the charges are the same whether you’re a day or a month late. The fees are already being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading.While your one-off late payment should not affect your credit reference, a catalogue of slip-ups could cost you dear when applying for credit in the future.Make sure you send your money by cheque in the post at least seven working days before the payment due date – and note these dates down.However, given that the British postal system can be unreliable, a better way to avoid late payment is to set up a direct debit. Not all credit card companies allow you to arrange one automatically when you take out a new card. Instead, you have to call the lender to set up the debit.You may prefer to send cheques by post as you have always done – but, as long as you have enough funds in your current account, a direct debit will mean you won’t have to worry about being overcharged.