RAMSEY CROOKALL

18th  October 2011

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 trades down 1.2%, remaining in the red as mining stocks decline. Rio Tinto down 4.9%, Vedanta Resources off 4.14%, after China reports a slowdown in quarterly economic growth. Meanwhile, traders look to the release of more high- profile earnings in the U.S., with Goldman Sachs and Bank of America due to report. In terms of data, U.S. PPI figures are announced before the US open.

Inflation in the U.K. accelerated to match a 2008 record of 5.2% in September, official figures showed Tuesday, stoked by big increases in the prices households pay for gas and electricity.

Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner Whitbread is bucking the downward trend today after it saw group like-for-like sales rise by 3.3% in the six months to the start of September. Total revenue was up 10.7% to £891.3m from £805.4m the year before, while underlying profit before tax was up 15.2% to £174.9m from £151.8m. "The first half performance puts us on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations," said Whitbread's chief executive, Andy Harrison.

Another riser today is Lamprell. The a specialist engineering firm serving the oil and gas industry.

Bellway, the house builder, is also wanted after it saw full-year profit before tax of £67.2m exceed market expectations of £63.8m. Turnover was also higher than expected, at £886m, versus the £859m expected by the market. Completed sales of 4,922 homes were made at an average price of £175,613, a shade above the £175,000 predicted by broker Peel Hunt. The final dividend has been increased by just over 30% to 8.8p.

Engineering group IMI has bought TH Jansen Armaturen, a German business specialising in severe service valves and related flow control products, for an enterprise value of €17.5m, including around €5.2m of assumed debt.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                    Down          60         @       5376

THE DOW JONES closed                     Down          247       @       11397             NASDAQ COMP closed                       Down           52       @       2614               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1657                     Down                   0.70 %     Brent Crude Oil          $109.47                   Down                   0.30  %

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5739 GBP - EURO         1.1497

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