RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

14th September 2011

Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 finished 1.0% higher at 5227, closing above the 5200 level, as investors hope oversold stocks present good value ahead of important meetings among European leaders, says Capital Spreads. "Key players floated the idea of a Eurobond again and this gave equities a bit of a boost, as it is one of the most obvious and popular answers in attempting to solve the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis," it adds. However, it says the session has seen continued volatility, reminding investors that the threats posed by the crisis are still very much in existence. "There's hope for the euro zone yet, but this Friday's meeting for EU finance ministers is crucial," adds Capital Spreads. Thursday brings U.K. retail sales data at 0830 GMT.

In what it confessed has been a difficult year so far, clothing retailer Next saw half-year sales rise 3% to £1,565m from the year before, while profit before tax jumped 8.5% to £228m. Excluding its Ventura arm, Next is guiding to full-year profit before tax of between £545m and £590m. The shares are sharply higher, as are fellow retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Debenhams. "Looking ahead to our full year results, we believe that VAT exclusive NEXT Brand sales for the year will be between 2.0% and 4.5% ahead of last year, which would result in NEXT Group profits being up between +0.4% and +8.7% and EPS up between +7.5% and +16.4%," the group said.

Oil giant BP, which has moved to take full control of its Brazilian biofuels mills, buying the remaining half of ethanol mill owner Tropical BioEnergia and a 3% stake in sugar and ethanol producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA), is in demand.

Property groups British Land and Land Securities, downgraded to sell from hold by Societe Generale on euro debt crisis worries, are among the laggards in the FTSE 100.

House building and construction group Galliford Try exceeded its profit expectations last year after putting on a spurt in the second half. Underlying profit before tax rose 34% to £35.1m from £26.1m the year before, on revenue that climbed 5% to £1,284m from £1,222m.

Strong carbon markets helped coal supplier Hargreaves Services post a sharp rise in profits for the year to 31 May. Underlying pre-tax profits rose to £40.5m from £34.3m on revenues up to £552.3m from £459.8m. Underlying diluted earnings per share rose to 103.7p from 88.8p. Broker Panmure Gordon had predicted a profit of £40m for the year, with earnings per share climbing by 34.1% to 101.4p.

THE FTSE 100 Closed                                  Up 52        @   5,227

THE DOW JONES @ 16.45                                Down 29        @    11,076

THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16.45                          Up 15        @   2,547

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.45      1.5760 GBP - EURO   @ 16.45      1.1500