Royal Dutch Shell and BP will go head to head with first quarter figures tomorrow after contrasting fortunes in 2007.
The clash - due to Royal Dutch Shell moving its usual reporting day to avoid a public holiday in Holland - promises an extremely busy day for City watchers looking to assess the performance of both companies.
Both companies' upstream business will be helped by record oil prices of more than 100 dollars a barrel, but investors in BP will be hoping for shoots of recovery following the group's difficult year in 2007.
They may also look for evidence of chief executive Tony Hayward's pledge to "close the performance gap" with rivals after annual profits fell by more than a fifth.
A consensus of analysts predict "clean" first quarter profits of £2.67bn - 32 per cent ahead of last year.
However, there are a wide range of forecasts, reflecting the differing assessments of the group's refining performance, which has been plagued with difficulties in the US at a time of elevated prices.
Royal Dutch Shell meanwhile prompted calls for a windfall tax after 2007's record surplus of £13.9bn and is expected to have kept up the profits momentum into the new year.
Clean profits are set to be 22 per cent ahead at £3.43bn for the first quarter.
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Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group will give the latest picture from the beleaguered retail sector with annual profits on Wednesday.
In the year to the end of February the group is expected to post a 14 per cent rise in profits to £430m, according to consensus forecasts.
Argos maintained like-for-like sales growth throughout last year - a modest 0.7 per cent - although this compares favourably with the 4.1 per cent decline seen at DIY business Homebase.
But official retail figures this week showed falling sales volumes last month, as the sector struggles with tough comparisons with last year and the poor weather over the earliest Easter weekend for nearly a century.
The group has seen its share price fall by more than a third in the past six months in a darkening retail climate, although this may offer hopes of a potential bid.
The UK's biggest video games retailer, Game Group, has been a rare shaft of sunlight amid the clouds over the retail sector following a succession of positive trading updates.
The figures will be boosted by last May's £74m acquisition of rival Gamestation, which was cleared by competition authorities in January.
Trading has also been lifted by the presence of five successful hardware formats such as the Wii and Sony PlayStation 3, and a strong pipeline of software. Altium Securities' David O'Brien said: "Following a difficult Christmas for most retailers last year, with video games one of the few trading highlights, we would expect other generalist retailers to devote greater shelf space to this area this year."
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