Mining group Anglo American is under pressure to post forecast-beating annual results and reinstate a dividend on Friday after upbeat results from rivals.
"AAL is the last of the `Big 4' UK miners to report and will be expected to deliver a positive set of numbers following consensus-beating results from all three peers," analyst Michael Shillaker at Credit Suisse said in a note.
"Consensus appears to expect no dividend for 09, however, we believe failure to pay one may be seen as a small negative."
Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton all posted results last week, and the first two resumed paying dividends after suspending them during the downturn that hammered the sector.
Analyst Michael Rawlinson at Liberum Capital said Anglo might surprise the market with a modest payment after it announced earlier this week the sale of the European units of its Tarmac construction materials business for $400 million (R3.064 billion).
Anglo could afford to pay as much as 44 cents a share, equal to the most recent interim dividend in 2008, he added. "We believe a token dividend is affordable and justifiable."
Anglo is expected earn 197 cents a share, down 55 percent from 2008, on revenue of $22.59 billion, according to the consensus estimates of 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
According to StarMine's SmartEstimates, which places more weight on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts, the estimate is for a profit of 202 cents, 2.4 percent above the consensus.
Anglo Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll is also expected to confirm the firm delivered $1 billion of cost savings last year, half of the total promised by 2011.
The company has been under pressure to perform after Xstrata launched a "merger of equals" proposal last year, and some investors said Xstrata managers could do a better job of running Anglo.
In October, Xstrata dropped its merger plan and said it was focusing on organic growth from new mines, but some investors believe it may revisit a possible tie-up in the future. - Reuters