It's the battle of the oil titans this week as BP and Royal Dutch Shell go head to head with their second-quarter results. 

BP has barely made it out of the headlines in the past three months as it desperately attempts to halt the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

As costs soared in the wake of the April explosion and its market value plummeted, the FTSE 100-listed group was forced to scrap its first, second and third interim dividends this year.

Tony Shepard, analyst at Charles Stanley, says: 'The earnings consensus is a clean $5 billion, but the results will include provisions for the oil spill costs and will be separated out through profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statements and will be a permanent feature in the results for some time.'

There is also a very real possibility that further asset disposals will be mentioned in its results on Tuesday, following its $7 billion deal with Apache Corporation, which could result in a further share price rally.

Two days later, Anglo-Dutch giant Shell will take to the stage with a set of results that shareholders firmly hope will show signs of improving production levels after lagging behind its European counterparts.

Shepard says: 'After a strong start to the year, we expect second-quarter earnings to be lower sequentially due mainly to heavy maintenance and downtime. We expect clean second-quarter earnings of $4 billion, compared to $3.2 billion in 2009, but $4.8 billion in the first quarter.

'In conclusion, the second-quarter results may not be as exciting as the first quarter, but the group is now well placed to grow production and cash flow. The share price has underperformed the FTSE All-Share Index over the last 12 months, but obviously it has outperformed its peer, BP. Clearly the dividend yield at 6.5 per cent remains an attractive feature and our recommendation is accumulate.'

Also on Thursday, British Sky Broadcasting takes to the stage with a statement that will be all about the takeover proposal from News Corporation. The proposed bid is pegged at 700p per share, but directors are seeking a minimum 800p offer before considering accepting, so investors will be keen to learn the latest developments.

This follows on from publisher Pearson which takes to the floor on Monday. Its interim results should give some clue as to how expansion plans in India and China are proceeding. The first quarter results were very encouraging and analysts expect this to have continued.

Paul Richards, analyst at Numis, says: 'The group produced a robust statement in April that indicated that all parts of the business had made a good start to 2010. Although we are mindful of pressure on state budgets, we remain comfortable with our organic growth forecasts of +3 per cent and +4 per cent for 2010 and 2011 respectively.'

On Tuesday, FTSE 100 giant ARM Holdings releases its second-quarter figures. The company has enjoyed a superb year to date, with bid rumours pushing the share price up over 50 per cent and shareholders will be hoping for a positive set of figures to back up the share price.

EasyJet flies onto the calendar on Wednesday with an interim statement that is likely to show it has benefited from improving European short-haul aviation trends.

However, the no frills airline has hit headlines in recent days after founder Sir Stelios threatened to terminate the brand licence if new chief executive Carolyn McCall fails to improve the service of the airline.

British American Tobacco also makes an appearance midweek and has been performing in line with management expectations.

Tina Cook, analyst at Charles Stanley, comments: 'The world's second-largest global tobacco firm is expected to deliver revenue growth in a positive price environment despite ongoing pressures on volumes. EPS is expected to increase by 10 per cent to 84.8p at the half year and a 19 per cent rise in the interim dividend to 33.1p is consistent with BAT's policy of paying one-third of the prior year's full dividend.'

Thursday sees the likes of drugs giant AstraZeneca and telecoms giant BT both strutting their stuff. The former is expected to report earnings per share slightly down on the equivalent period in 2009, but nevertheless positively impacted by a currency tailwind.

The latter, meanwhile, has been facing pension deficit concerns of late and investors will be keen to see how high it is and what plans the company has in place to tackle it. Anything else positive that will emerge from BT's quarterly results will be a bonus. The week draws to a close with British Airways. Staff strikes, volcanic ash and the recent run of hot weather should make this set of results an interesting one.

Tony Shepard says that away from the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano and cabin crew strikes, the underlying market conditions have been improving in the key long haul sector and BA has made progress on its corporate developments.

The UK's flagship carrier has reached an agreement with its pension trustees over a recovery plan for its gaping £2.7 billion deficit.

'In spite of ongoing industrial action the BA share price has performed relatively well to its European peer group and this may continue as BA reaps synergies from the merger. Nevertheless, investing in airlines continues to carry higher risks for private investors,' Shepard concludes.

On the economic front, Hometrack Housing survey kicks off events today, swiftly followed by CBI distributive trade survey tomorrow.

'The survey for July is forecast to show that the balance of retailers reporting that sales were up year-on-year rose to +5 per cent from -5 per cent in June. However, this would still be well below the +13 per cent level seen in April. Sales are expected to have been helped in July by the good weather and decent discounting in the summer sales.'

The Gfk consumer confidence survey published later in the week is expected to have fallen for a fifth month running in July, to stand at its lowest level since August 2009. This is due to increased consumer concern over both personal situations and the general economic outlook.

Finally, the Bank of England is expected to report on Thursday that mortgage approvals for house purchases slipped back to 48,500 in June from 49,815 in May.

Monday 26 July

Results

(Interims) Amino Technologies, Dialight, Hansen Transmission International, National Grid, Pearson, Reckitt Benckiser, WSP Group

AGMs

Connemara Mining, Cranswick, EPE Special Opportunities, Establishment Inv Trust, Evolve Capital, Hogg Robinson, HSBC Infrastructure Company, National Grid, Petrel Resources

EGMs

GMA Resources

Tuesday 27 July

Results

(Finals) DQ Entertainment, Games Workshop Group, Misys, PZ Cussons

(Interims) ARM Holdings, BG Group, BP, Croda International, Daily Mail & General Trust, Halfords Group, Norsk Hydro, Pace, Provident Financial

Trading updates

Promethean World, Workspace Group

AGMs

Aberdeen All Asia Inv Trust, Accsys Technologies, CareCapital, Haike Chemical Group, Halfords Group, IS Pharma, Media Square, Metro Baltic Horizons, Ottoman Fund, Persian Gold, Tongaat Hulett, Vodafone Group, Workspace Group

EGMs

Haike Chemical Group, KazakhGold Group

Dividend payment date

(Final) IBIS Media, Ventus 1

Wednesday 28 July

Results

(Finals) Renishaw

(Interims) Bodycote, Brit Insurance Holdings, British American Tobacco, Centrica, Compass Group, CSR, easyJet, Invensys, Jarvis Securities, RAB Capital, Rathbone Brothers, Rexam, Rolls-Royce Group, Sage Group, St James's Place, Tarsus Group, Virgin Media

AGMs

Amiad Filtration Systems, Aurora Inv Trust, Charles Stanley, Cropper, Endace, Geopark, Globus Maritime, Invensys, JJB Sports, Jupiter Green Inv Trust, Kenetics, Kewill, Melorio, Norcros, Polar Cap Technology Trust, Scapa Group, Umeco, Vedanta Resources, Victoria, Walker Greenbank

Dividend payment date

(Final) Braemer Shipping Services, Fuller Smith & Turner, Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust

Thursday 29 July

Results

(Finals) Antisoma, British Sky Broadcasting Group

(Interims)AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Collins Stewart, Dairy Farm International, Hong Kong Land Holding, Halma, Hutchison China, Meditec, National Express Group, Northumbrian Water Group, Rank Group, Reed Elsevier, Royal Dutch Shell, RPS Group, Travis Perkins, Titon Holdings, Trinity Mirror, United Drug, Vernalis

Trading updates

Inchcape

AGMs

Acal, BSS Group, Byotrol, Chariot Oil & Gas, China Private Equity Investment, Elektron, GB Group, Halma, Hornby, Hyder Consulting, Northumbrian Water Group, Opsec Security, Pennon Group, QinetiQ Group, Record, SerVision, Torotrak, Yell Group

Dividend payment date

(Final) Caffyns, Rensburg

Friday 30 July

Results

(Interims) Anglo American, Charter International, Dignity, Invista Real Estate Investment Management Holdings, Jardin Lloyd Thompson Group, Manganese Bronze, Rentokil Initial, United Business Media

(Quarterly) British Airways

AGMs

Bellzone Mining, BlueStar SecuTech, Cinpart, Creon Corporation, E2V Technologies, Homeserve, ING Global Real Estate Securities, Kingswalk Investments, Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust, Plastics Capital, Red Leopard Holdings, Renaissance US Growth Inv Trust, Velti, X-Phonics

EGMs

Sirius Real Estate, Trikona Trinity Capital, Velti

Dividend payment date

(Final) Aberdeen All Asia Inv Trust, Acal, Aveva Group, Brown Group, BSS Group, Dee Valley Group, Edinburgh Inv Trust, KCOM Group, Kiotech International, Schroder UK Growth Fund, Severn Trent, Tate & Lyle, Velosi

Dividend payment date

(Interim) Chrysalis, Octopus Phoenix, Paragon Group of Companies

(Quarterly) Henderson Global Property Companies, Land Securities Group, Mercantile Inv Trust, Schroder Income Growth Fund, Torchmark Corp