RESULT from oil giant BP will be next week's highlight as the reporting season gets into full swing, with numbers also due from drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline and broadcaster BSkyB.

There is little doubt that oil major BP will have been glad to see the back of 2007 after what proved a tumultuous year for the FTSE 100 giant.

The abrupt resignation of chief executive Lord Browne for lying to a court about a relationship followed two critical reports over the March 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery, where 15 workers died.

Results for the full year due tomorrow (Tuesday) are likely to show profits well below last year's £11.34bn after another tough quarter for the business.

A consensus of forecasts put BP's underlying fourth quarter profits at £2.2bn, leaving 'clean' underlying profits for the full year at around £9.1bn - a fall of nearly 15 per cent.

New chief executive Tony Hayward is currently charged with reviving the group's performance after describing BP's operational performance as 'dreadful' last year and pledging to strip layers of management out of the business.

City watchers are expecting continued weakness from BP's refining and marketing operations as margins are eroded by spiking oil prices and production stoppages.

Aerospace and engineering giant Rolls-Royce last month announced plans to cut up to 2,300 jobs but is expected to cheer investors with a 15 per cent increase in profits for 2007 on Thursday.

Consensus forecasts put full-year profits at £800m after a bumper year for the group which saw its order book swell to more than £35bn.

Despite its healthy corporate position, Rolls-Royce announced the cost-cutting plans last month as it prepares to weather what could be trickier conditions ahead.

The group has major bases in Bristol and Derby but has so far been silent on how many UK jobs are under threat.

The group, which employs more than 23,000 people worldwide, is looking to offset higher costs in raw materials as well as the weakness of the US dollar.

GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia diabetes treatment will again be the focus of attention on Thursday, when the company posts full-year numbers.

In May last year it was rocked by claims - strongly denied by GSK - that the drug increased the risks of heart attacks.

But the impact on sales of the drug has been severe, with consensus forecasts predicting a 25 per cent drop in Avandia revenues to around £1.2bn over last year.

Overall group pre-tax profits are expected to be around two per cent lower at £7.6bn.

Broadcasting giant BSkyB has already braced the market for a £343m hit when it reports interim figures on Wednesday.

The write-down comes after the government's order for Sky to sell-down its controversial 17.9 per cent stake in ITV to below 7.5 per cent - an ill-timed ruling for Sky, given that the shares are now a fraction of their former worth.

But aside from the ITV shares write-off, Sky's half-year results are expected to show further strong operational performance. Analysts are expecting strong revenue growth, up 10 per cent at £2.45bn.