RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
26th May 2011 Morning Report
The FTSE 100 trades up 0.5%, nudging higher as heavily-weighted mining stocks advance
on the back of firm metals prices. As far as data is concerned, the second release of
US 1Q GDP and initial jobless claims this afternoon will be closely watched as investors
try to gauge the state of the US economy.
Among the risers is Man Group whose adjusted profit before tax rose to $599m in the year
to 31 March from $560m the year before, ahead of company guidance. Statutory profit
before tax tumbled to $324m from $541m. However, even this was ahead of previous guidance
(of $280m) after strong investment performance in the last week of March and an adjustment
to the GLG acquisition balance sheet.
Strong sales of non-clothing items such as leather handbags helped the luxury fashion group
Burberry to a sharp rise in sales in the year to 31 March. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose by
39% from the previous year to £298m on revenue that climbed by 27% to £1.5bn. The full-year
dividend has been increased by 43% to 20p. Despite the strong figures, Burberry, which also
announced plans to ramp up capital expenditure, is lower.
British American Tobacco is to buy Colombia’s second biggest cigarette company for $452m
(£279m). The acquisition of Productora Tabacalera de Colombia (Protabaco) will elevate the
Lucky Strike firm from third to second place in the cigarette market in Colombia, where 17bn
cigarettes are sold a year. Protabaco sold 5.5bn cigarettes in 2010.
THE FTSE 100 AT 9:45 Up 30 @ 5900
THE DOW JONES closed Up 38 @ 12394
THE NASDAQ COMP closed Up 15 @ 2761
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.6285
GBP - EURO 1.1490
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