The banking sector will dominate a busy week for annual results with figures due from Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC.

Under-fire banking giant HSBC will come under the spotlight again today as it publishes full-year results for 2014, at the start of the annual reporting season for Britain's lenders.

The group has been mired in allegations that its Swiss private banking subsidiary helped thousands of wealthy clients avoid tax.

A further blow came when prosecutors earlier this week searched the private bank's Geneva offices in a probe into suspected aggravated money laundering, following allegations that it helped to hide millions of dollars for drugs and arms dealers.

It follows an analysis carried out by a group of international media organisations of thousands of documents leaked by a whistleblower. The private bank is already being probed by Belgian and French authorities over the disclosures.

HSBC said it was cooperating with the latest Swiss inquiry.

Meanwhile chief executive Stuart Gulliver has admitted in a memo to staff on the "painful" tax avoidance allegations that the bank "sometimes failed to live up to the standards" expected by society.

The revelations are likely to overshadow HSBC's annual results.

Numis analyst Mike Trippitt sees full-year profits at 22.5 billion US dollars (£14.6 billion), roughly in line with last year.

He said the figures will be reported "against a background of continuing emerging market uncertainty and allegations regarding past customer tax evasion".

The results come after a turbulent period for the sector. Six banks were fined £2.6 billion in November after global regulators including Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found traders had clubbed together to rig foreign exchange markets.

It included a £389 million hit for HSBC and £399 million for Royal Bank of Scotland, which reports results later in the week.

Lenders also faced a Bank of England stress test in December which raised concerns about RBS as well as fellow state-backed lender Lloyds, though they were given the all-clear because of improvements and changes to their plans during 2014.

The outcome has fuelled speculation that bailed-out Lloyds is preparing to announce a dividend to long-suffering investors for the first time since 2008.

Meanwhile it is widely expected that the lender will bring forward publication of bonus awards with chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio reportedly in line for an £11 million pay-out including £7 million from a long-term share-based plan.

The details are likely to prove controversial coming four months after Lloyds took an axe to its branch network and announced 9,000 job cuts under plans to sideline its traditional over-the-counter service.

Lloyds is expected to report annual pre-tax profits of around £2 billion, up from £415 million a year before, after putting aside another £600 million to compensate customers mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

Underlying profits for the year are expected to rise from £6.2 billion to £7.8 billion.

It comes as the Treasury continues to sell down its stake in Lloyds after its £20 billion taxpayer rescue at the height of the financial crisis.

Last December it said that it planned to cut its quarter share in the group to as low as about 20% over the next six months, raising about £3 billion. The Government's stake had been as high as around 40%.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley rate the group, owner of the UK's biggest mortgage lender Halifax, as "overweight" saying it stands to benefit from the improved UK housing market and is building its capital strength faster than peers.

At RBS, annual figures are expected to represent a vast improvement on its dire performance for 2013 when the lender, 80% owned by the taxpayer, reported a staggering pre-tax loss of £8.2 billion.

Analysts at Investec expect a profit of £4 billion for 2014.

But Investec's Ian Gordon said the market recently pushing back interest rate hike expectations well into 2016 was "singularly unhelpful" for RBS, seeing it as the most positively-geared to rising rates.

The results come after RBS last month admitted mis-selling loans to business customers under a taxpayer-backed scheme in its latest embarrassing blunder.

Meanwhile, dozens of staff are expected to learn soon whether they will be disciplined over the forex scandal as the bank completes its review into the episode in the first quarter.

Housebuilders Persimmon and Bovis are expected to report annual profits that have jumped 41% and 69% respectively next week, aided by the Government's Help to Buy programme.

Both firms are also likely to give guidance on market conditions in light of recent signs that trading may have slowed.

York-based Persimmon is expected to report an underlying pre-tax profit of £466 million on Tuesday in the year to the end of December, reflecting good levels of demand across the UK.

Its average selling price rose by 5% to £190,500, while the FTSE 100 listed group saw a 17% rise in completions to 13,509 homes.

Housebuilders returned to a more traditional slower summer period last year after the boost they received from the Government's Help to Buy scheme in 2013.

They were also impacted by new rules for lenders on checking whether borrowers can afford their loan - the Mortgage Market Review.

Brokers also want an update on Persimmon's dividend programme and forecasts about spring sales from the company.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank said "In this update we believe investors will look for more detail, with a particular focus on the spring selling season given the weakness in trading expected in the weeks leading up to the general election."

The Kent-based Bovis is expected on Monday to post a pre-tax profit of £132.8 million for the year to the end of December. The firm said in a trading update last month it achieved 3,635 completions in the period, reflecting a 29% year-on-year increase.

The group, which concentrates on family housing in the South East, said that average sale prices lifted 11% to £216,600 due to improved house prices and a stronger sales mix.

However, it said 2015 started strongly with forward sales in January 27% ahead of last year with 1,752 reservations.

Chief executive David Ritchie added: "Subject to market conditions being similar to 2014, we expect to deliver further growth in revenue and profit, giving rise to further improvement in returns in 2015."

The fall-out from William Hill's failed bid to buy 888 Holdings and Ladbrokes' search for a new boss will add interest to their results next week.

William Hill is expected to post an 11% rise in full-year earnings to £371 million but the focus of Friday's results will be on its £700 million attempt to buy 888 in a move which would have boosted online business.

The approach failed because a member of the founding family of the online group held out for as much as 300p a share, rather than the 200p a share on offer.

The gaming sector is facing pressure over increased controls on betting shops and gaming machines, with shares across the industry hammered last year by a surprise hike in gaming machine duty in the Budget.

Numis analyst Ivor Jones said: "William Hill is increasing its exposure to online and international markets and, correspondingly, reducing its exposure to retail and the UK. Acquisitions could accelerate that process and bring, potentially transformational, technology and skills in-house."

Numis expects Ladbrokes to report a 10.8% fall in earnings to £123 million, as it looks to replace its embattled boss Richard Glynn who announced in December he would step down after five years in the job.

Mr Glynn took the helm in April 2010 and was tasked with a five-year recovery programme that included overhauling Ladbrokes' online and gaming machine operations, which have lagged behind its rivals.

But pressure on the chief executive intensified in August when the company's half-year profits fell by almost half to £27.7 million, impacted by unfavourable sporting results and its race to roll out new services in time for the World Cup.

Numis broker Mr Jones said: "Ladbrokes faces falling earnings, numerous regulatory challenges and the uncertainties which come with a new chief executive."