BT Group PLC and NatWest Group PLC in focus on Friday

The week of banking interims closes with  PLC () in the usual Friday spot it reserved under its former RBS moniker.

Under its former name it took impairments of £802mln for potential credit losses from the coronavirus crisis.

If rivals Lloyds and Barclays are anything to go by, the lender is likely to be increasing these bad loan provisions.

BT’s Openreach and Huawei changes in focus

Telecoms giant  () will close out the week with a trading update, around two weeks after the firm denied that it is planning to offload a multibillion-pound stake in its Openreach infrastructure arm.

However, one issue investors may be looking for more detail on is the removal of equipment made by Chinese tech firm Huawei, with earlier this month was banned by the UK government from the country’s 5G mobile internet networks.

While the UK’s telecom groups have been given longer than they expected, seven years, to rip out Huawei’s technology, cost is likely to be at the forefront of investor’s minds.

Analysts at UBS have previously calculated that there is a risk that a reduction to zero Huawei equipment would double BT’s capital expenditure on its 5G rollout.

Aside from the mobile network, investors will be keen to see if the company’s TV arm has seen any uptick from the restart of Premier League matches in June.

Announcements expected on Friday 31 July:

Trading announcements:  (),  (),  (),  ()

Finals: China Nonferrous Gold ltd (),  PLC ()

Interims:  (),  (),  PLC (),  SA (),  PLC (),  (), F.B.D. Holdings PLC (),  ()

Economic data: US personal spending, China PMIs