Royal Mail shares have soared since being valued at 330p in last month’s initial public offer, which saw 690,000 members of the public pick up tranches worth around £750.

At one point they were trading at nearly 600p.

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Looking to the half-year results on Wednesday, UBS expects to see some weakness in parcels due to tough comparisons, pricing increases and a slowdown in e-commerce growth, but it expects Royal Mail to benefit from a strong Christmas.

Across the 12 months, the broker believes operating profits will edge up by around £5 million to £445m.

Thomas Cook chief executive Harriet Green will face the spotlight as she sets out the latest update on the 172-year-old travel operator’s battle to return to profit.

Results on Thursday will cover the first full 12 months under her stewardship. In a pre-close update in September, she said results would be in line with City expectations – for an underlying profits of just over £100m.

BQ parent Kingfisher is set to reveal a weather boost to trading on Thursday after the hot summer and mild autumn spurred on sales of home improvement and garden products.

Profits across the group are likely to see a rise, by as much as 12.6% to £289m in the third quarter, according to analysts at Bernstein.