RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO May 15th  2012

Morning Report

The FTSE 100 is up 0.1% at 5471.68, paring gains. Data just out shows the UK trade deficit was stable in March. Additionally, government sources in Greece have said the country is going to pay out the EUR450 million foreign law bond which matures Tuesday. This bond wasn't included in the recent restructuring. Eyes will remain on Greece, as president Papoulios meets with the main party leaders to discuss forming a technocratic government.

International security solutions firm G4S was a high riser early on despite saying that profits in the first three months of 2012 were, as expected, at similar levels to the corresponding period of last year. Looking forward, the company said organic growth has continued to improve in developed markets and remains strong in developing markets, and the organic growth rate is expected to continue to improve during 2012.

Medical devices group Smiths Group was in demand after saying that full-year expectations remain in line with earlier guidance. Both sales and underlying headline operating profit in the nine months to April 28th were ahead of last year.

Telecoms titan BT Group rose after Espirito Santo upgraded its rating on the stock, while Royal Bank of Scotland was helped higher by an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.

Heading the other way was International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) was under pressure after JP Morgan Cazenove downgraded its recommendation from overweight to neutral.

Quality control group Intertek was lower following the purchase of Vigalab, a minerals testing laboratory in Chile, for £3.4m in cash.

THE FTSE 100              @ 10:05               Up              8        @      5,474 THE DOW JONES            closed                 Down            125      @     12695 THE NASDAQ               closed                 Down            31      @      2902 Exchange Rates

GBP – USD       @      10:05                      1.6068 GBP - EURO     @      10:05                      1.2508

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