RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

30th August 2011 Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 closed up 2.7%. The market has been playing catch-up with European peers after Monday's public holiday. The index finished up despite poor U.S. confidence data. There is no U.K. economic data of note due on Wednesday. The U.S. ADP employment report, at 1215 GMT, will be eyed with particular interest ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls data.

Banking giants RBS (up 8%), Barclays (up 6%) and Lloyds (up 7%) were topping the FTSE 100 leaderboard as they headed north after the bank holiday weekend. RBS was performing particularly well after Deutsche Bank upgraded the company from 'hold' to 'buy'.

Oil and gas group Afren saw profits fall in the half year to 30 June after shutting down its Ebok field in Nigeria for safety reasons. Pre-tax profits fell to £43.7m from £75.4m over the same period the previous year on revenues that were down to £161m from £214.8m. However, production has been ramped up and the shares are higher today.

Margins are on the mend at house builder Bovis Homes, which saw profits more than double in the first half of 2011. Profit before tax surged to £8.6m in the first six months of the year from £3.5m the year before. Gold miner Randgold Resources took a knock after its Loulo/Gounkoto complex in Mali suffered in the third quarter after abnormally heavy rainfall. The bad weather has meant that targets for the third quarter have been substantially lowered as a result.

UK-based mobile phone network leviathan Vodafone also saw its share price stumble after announcing that it is in talks to merge its Greek telecoms business with privately-owned rival, Wind Hellas.

Dominique Yates has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Regus, the workspace provider, taking over from Stephen Gleadle, who is stepping down after six years in the role to pursue other opportunities. The stock climbs nearly 8%.

The first set of interim results from media group Perform since it floated in April of this year showed the sporting events film footage provider on a growth trajectory. Revenue in the first half of 2011 of £45.1m was almost half as much again as the £30.7m racked up in the first half of last year, with the group boasting strong growth across all of its business areas.

THE FTSE 100 Closed                     Up  138       @   5,268

THE DOW JONES @ 16.45                   Down   1        @   11,540

THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16.45                 Up 13       @  2,575

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.45      1.6287    GBP - EURO    @ 16.45      1.1281