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ONDON traders are gearing up for a big week of corporate results, with UK giants Shell, BT Group, Glencore, GSK and Vodafone Group updating markets. Shell is due to announce its final results for 2022 on Thursday and is expected to post record profits as oil giants continue to benefit from the global energy boom.

Newly appointed chief executive Wael Sawan will front the announcement this week in which he is expected to announce the huge profit take of $28bn (£22bn).

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said the decision to buy back billions of dollars of their own shares, rather than increase investment in renewable sources of energy, is likely to draw criticism.

However, the company has been exposed to a windfall tax by the UK gov- ernment designed to help partially pay for cost of living support.

Shell's dividend has also been lifted by 15 per cent, likely to please shareholders. The oil megacap's shares are already up more than a quarter over the last year.

BT will announce third quarter results on Thursday. Despite a short lived rally in December, its shares are still down 30 per cent from their peak. Glencore publishes a production stock take for 2022 while GSK announces full year results on Wednesday. Vodafone is set to release third quarter results on the same day and investors will be eyeing whether inflation and higher energy bills have kept squeezing earnings.

The FTSE 100 is also likely to be wobbled by rate rise decisions from the Bank of England, Federal Reserve and ECB, all out this week.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper