THE main news next week will be the Budget on Wednesday, but apart from Chancellor Gordon Brown's speech there will be a number of company announcements.

The weeks starts with a first-quarter trading update from chip designer Arm Holdings on Monday.

Although rocked by the tech downturn, Arm is expected to show further growth in licensing revenues after a final update in January signalled that the new year had started well.

Royalty revenues are still expected to be subdued, however, although licensing is likely to offset this. First-quarter pre-tax profits are forecast to come in about £14.8m, a 7.2 per cent jump against the previous three months.

On Tuesday, interim results from department store group Debenhams are due. Fund manager Gerrard is forecasting pre-tax profits to rise from £80.8m to £87.6m, with continued strong sales growth.

Argos-to-Burberry group Gus will update the City on how it has fared in the second half year on Tuesday, when it issues a trading update.

Gus is aiming to spin out Burberry this summer and float it on the London Stock Exchange. The move depends on market conditions.

On Wednesday, WH Smith is expected to show a slide in interim pre-tax profits, from £100m to £95.8m. Most of the dip is being attributed to operating losses at its US businesses - WH Smith has shops in hotels and airports - which have depressed stable profits elsewhere in the group.

Publishing profits are also expected to come in lower, following a strong performance last year, but fund manager Gerrard believes the arm's good pipeline of titles means this will be reversed in the second half.

On Thursday, high street fashion chain Arcadia is expected to post strong interim figures. The owner of Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins has already said profits before tax and one-off items are unlikely to be less than £52m, boosted by growth across the group. Last year Arcadia posted pre-tax profits of £29.1m.