Tesco will dominate the corporate agenda this week.
The supermarket giant will again put its rivals in the shade tomorrow when it is expected to report half-year profits of more than £1 billion.
While competition has intensified with the revival of Sainsbury's and Morrisons, Tesco still has more than 30 per cent of the sector.
Nick Bubb, a retail analyst at Evolution Securities, said he expected further strong growth, with pretax profits likely to show an increase of 12 per cent to £1.1 billion.
Among areas of interest at the results presentation will be the company's exposure to higher energy costs, as well as any guidance on prices amid signs of a return to food inflation. Analysts will also be looking for an update on US expansion plans, following reports that it was looking for sites in Las Vegas, as well as along the West Coast. And its plans to enter the computer software market will be closely watched.
Tesco is expected to try to deflect competition concerns by announcing thousands of new jobs across the group.
Shareholders are expected to give BAE Systems the green light to sell the company's 20 per cent stake in European plane maker Airbus on Wednesday.
BAE has recommended investors vote in favour of the disposal, even though the price tag of £1.9 billion is some way below the figure that City analysts had previously thought the holding might be worth.
The low price tag has been seen a potential blow to the company's plans as BAE wants to use the proceeds to fund a transatlantic growth strategy.
The company even carried out its own audit on Airbus, but concluded in early September that the "challenging" short to medium-term outlook for the business meant it would be better to take up its option to sell the holding to partner and majority owner EADS, the Franco-German company.
The gloomy prospects for Airbus reflect production difficulties which emerged in June and have caused delays in the delivery timetable for the A380 superjumbo.
Around 13,000 workers are employed building wings for t he Airbus, mainly at Broughton in North Wales and Filton in Bristol.
If shareholders back the proposal at a London hotel, the disposal could be completed by October 14.
Redditch-based Halfords meanwhile is expected to show the sales benefit of recently-introduced child car seat rules when it delivers a trading update on Thursday.
The regulations - forcing any youngster up to 12 or shorter than 135cm to use a child seat or booster - came into force in mid-September, and a spokeswoman for Halfords recently said sales had doubled over the previous two months.
The uplift builds on what is likely to be positive first-half sales performance from the car parts and bicycles specialist.
Halfords now provides one in three bikes sold in the United Kingdom and is also the market leader in the supply of car parts and satellite navigation systems.
The company operates from 417 stores and has 10,000 staff.
