The Motley Fool's Week Ahead: Cadbury and Carpetright

Cadbury launches its formal bid defence against Kraft next week

Next week is the last full trading week of 2009.

So, as you might imagine, corporate results will be a little thin on the ground.

On the economic front, expect the latest figures for unemployment, retail sales and the public finances.

Notable results and updates w/c 14 December 2009: Mon: Cadbury, RWS, Ten Alps and Whitbread.

Tue: Carpetright, Go Ahead Group, Renovo, Scott Wilson and Serco.

Wed: Drax, Kesa, Petrofac and Punch Taverns.

Thu: Arriva, Chrysalis, JJB, Travis Perkins and Wood Group.

Fri: Free for Christmas shopping.

Chocolate and coffee: We could get off to a fiery start on Monday as Cadbury (LSE: CBRY) has a trading update and delivers its formal response to last month's hostile bid from Kraft.

For each Cadbury share, the offer is 300p in cash plus 0.2589 Kraft Shares.

At the end of October, Cadbury said it expected sales growth of between 4% and 6% for the full year, plus margins to increase by at least 1.35 percentage points.

These numbers are likely to be fleshed out further as Cadbury seeks to demonstrate why it should remain independent.

Also on Monday, we're expecting a trading statement from Whitbread (LSE: WTB).

The owner of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee delivered a fairly lacklustre half-year report a few months ago, with sales up 3% but profits down by the same amount.

Premier Inn is currently involved in a catfight with Travelodge, with the latter objecting to Premier's GBP29-a-room promotional offer.

One for shorters Shorters' favourite Carpetright (LSE: CPR) has interim results out on Tuesday.

Its nearest rival, Allied Carpets, went bust in the summer and this may have contributed to the impressive 10% sales growth Carpetright reported in October.

Comet owner Kesa Electricals (LSE: KESA) is pencilled in for results on Wednesday.

Like many big-ticket shopkeepers, it has struggled in the last few years.

Kesa's most recent update saw like-for-like sales down 4%.

It has just appointed a new finance director, Dominic Platt, who is due to join its board in the new year.

It's been a highly eventful year for JJB Sports (LSE: JJB).

The company successfully raised GBP100m in October to refinance its business and, earlier this week, announced the appointment of Keith Jones as its new chief executive.

Jones is currently Group Retail Director at DSG International (LSE: DSGI).

Spurting profits: One of the FTSE 100's lesser known companies is oil services outfit Petrofac (LSE: PFC).

It has seen its shares rise more than fourfold since it floated in 2005.

It's benefited from the recent recovery in the oil price and said it expects earnings growth of at least 20% this year.

Petrofac will release a trading update on Wednesday.

The share price of debt-ridden Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) has been going in the opposite direction.

It's collapsed from nearly GBP14 in 2007 to as low as 31p earlier this year.

Although Punch has reduced its borrowings by GBP1bn, it still owes nearly GBP4bn.

On Wednesday, Punch holds its Annual General Meeting and this should be accompanied by a statement on its first-quarter performance.

Finally, turning to small caps, keep an eye out for Ten Alps (LSE: TAL), which is due to deliver its interim results on Monday.

A recent review on the Fool, highlighted it as a contrarian media play.

A few weeks ago, Ten Alps joined forces with Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) and the Press Association to bid for a regional TV news pilot scheme for the North East of England.

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