RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO April 30th 2012

Morning Report

The FTSE 100  is down 0.3% with the Eurozone again in focus as Spanish debt concerns continue to weigh on sentiment. Man Group is down 4.39%, having risen 14% on Friday. Aberdeen Asset Management is up 2.0% after well-received 1H results.

Fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management was the best performer early on after it reported a solid rise in revenue and profit in its first half which it says was down to a return of investor appetite for risk assets in 2012 and an ongoing desire for yield.

Satellite broadcaster and broadband group BSkyB rose after Citigroup upgraded the stock from neutral to buy. Also being helped by a broker upgrade today was AstraZeneca, which had its rating raised by both JP Morgan Cazenove and Jefferies.

Heading the other way was Randgold Resources after Nomura downgraded the gold miner from neutral to reduce, saying that while the stock has de-rated in line with the sector, there is less potential upside than peers partly due to its political risk exposure in Mali.

Insurance giant Aviva edged higher after announcing a review of executive remuneration practises. It also said that chief executive Andrew Moss, who received a £2.69m package for 2012, would waive his pay rise for the year.

Engineering group Weir rose after announcing the launch of new products by its Oil and Gas division which are expected to expand its addressable market by over $500m.

Morgan Crucible was performing strongly after Jefferies upgraded the stock from hold to buy, citing the recent underperformance in the shares ahead of its interim management statement next week.

THE FTSE 100             @ 10:00        Down        19     @      5,757 THE DOW JONES            closed         Up          23     @     13228 THE NASDAQ               closed         Up          18     @      3069

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD       @      10:00                   1.6280 GBP - EURO     @      10:00                   1.2295