The week ahead: Cluster of big names will fill the short trading week

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB is expected to reveal further growth in customer numbers and profits on Thursday, heaping more pressure on News Corp's bid to take full control of the company.

Matthew Walker at Nomura expects the company to post a solid update for the first three months of 2011 and recently increased his estimate for the number of net customers added in the period from 32,000 to 40,000.

He forecasts that underlying profits will increase 15 per cent to 252 million as the group benefits from strong growth in the number of customers subscribing to high definition TV and broadband services.

The group recently described its first-half performance as "outstanding" after it posted a 26 per cent jump in operating profits to 520m and it smashed through the ten million customer mark.

Another strong trading performance would place further pressure on Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to offer more money as it tries to buy the 61 per cent of the company it does not already own.

Whitbread also looks set to please investors on Thursday, with full-year results forecast to show a 20 per cent rise in profits following a strong performance from its Premier Inns and Costa coffee brands.

Analysts forecast underlying profits will rise to 286m in the year to 3 March, while dividend payments are expected to jump 13 per cent to 43p per share.

That would represent a strong recovery for Whitbread, whose profits slumped during the recession as consumers cut discretionary spending.

However, investors are concerned that like-for-like growth slowed to 3.9 per cent in the 11 weeks to 17 February when trading was affected by the severe winter weather and it came up against stronger comparatives with the previous year.

They will scrutinise its results for an update on current trading for any clues as to whether the recent drop in consumer spending in 2011 has affected its momentum.

Associated British Foods is expected to report further profits growth despite a slowdown at its budget fashion chain Primark when it provides half-year results on Wednesday.

When the group last updated the market in February, it revealed a "noticeable" drop in UK consumer demand, as same-store sales growth at Primark fell to 3 per cent in the six months to 5 March - half the level during its previous financial year.

It was one of a raft of retailers to report a change in mood among UK shoppers since the start of this year as the increase in VAT, high inflation and the UK government's austerity cuts took their toll on consumer confidence.

The update was a rare disappointment for investors after a series of strong results which made Primark the group's star performer in recent years, as it rode the boom in demand for budget clothing on the high street.

Julian Hardwick, an analyst at RBS, expects AB Foods to report a 6 per cent rise in underlying profits to 352m as the slowdown in Primark is offset by the growth in the sugar business.

Royal Dutch Shell's first quarter trading update on Thursday is expected to make pleasant reading for investors as the company benefits from high oil prices.

Tony Shepard, an analyst at Charles Stanley Securities, predicts that it will post a 20 per cent rise in earnings to $5.8 billion (3.5bn) as it pushes towards ambitious growth targets.However, its production volumes may not show much improvement after it was hit by the US moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and it carried out maintenance work in the North Sea and Nigeria.

Embattled rival BP reports on its first quarter on Wednesday and is expected to reveal flat underlying profits of $5.6bn as it continues to feel the impact of the Deepwater Horizon rig accident and oil spill a year ago,