RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 12th October 2012

      Morning Report

The FTSE 100 trades down, edging lower following uninspiring US and Asian leads, as investors look to key earnings from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo later.

Financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown said revenue, assets under administration (AuA) and client numbers all hit record levels in the July-September quarter, the firm's quietest period of the financial year. AuA increased by £2.2bn in the three months to the end of September to £28.5bn, while revenue in the period rose 20% year-on-year to £58.7m. The group said it has made an excellent start to October.

Building materials supplier Travis Perkins saw like-for-like sales fall back in the group's second quarter (to end-September), as the group struggled with the poor weather and the competing attraction of the Olympics. Total sales in the quarter were down 2.4% year-on-year, although the group noted that the quarter this year had one less trading day. Like-for-like sales per trading day were down 3.5% on the corresponding period of last year.

Industrial materials provider Morgan Crucible has delivered a profits warning as trading conditions have deteriorated across most geographies, particularly in Europe and China. Sector peer Bodycote falls in sympathy.

Information technology services provider Computacenter is having to spend time and money getting service levels up to the required standard on some new German contracts, but things are going well in the home market.

Centrica a utility which owns U.K. energy supplier British Gas, Friday said British Gas will raise domestic gas and electricity prices by an average of 6% on Nov. 16, adding 80 pounds a year to the average dual fuel customer's bill.

THE FTSE 100             @ 10:10        Down     15      @      5813 THE DOW JONES            closed         Down    18      @     13326 THE NASDAQ               closed         Down     2       @      3049

Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @       10:00                 1.6048 GBP - EURO      @       10:00                 1.2379

Gold USD/Oz                               $1,767