RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
5 APRIL 2011 EVENING REPORT
The FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% as worries over sovereign debt returned to the
fore with Moody’s downgrade of Portuguese debt.
Elsewhere in retail, shares in Home Retail Group are higher after some stake-
building by US private equity group Madison Dearborn Capital Partners stoked
takeover talk.
M&A chatter lifted TUI Travel, the owner of Thomson and other holiday brands.
Its parent group, Germany’s TUI AG, is said to be considering selling its stake
in the shipping group Hapag-Lloyd.
Shares in EnQuest were higher. The UK-focused oil and gas group said it was
“very disappointed” with the government’s decision to increase taxes on North Sea
oil firms, though it remains confident of delivering on its 2011 targets. The high
oil price and increased production helped push the company’s revenues up to $614.4m
in 2010, from $319m the previous year. Pre-tax profits soared to $71.5m from $24.6bn.
Specialist healthcare company BTG said results for the year to end-March will be
in line with previously stated guidance. Revenue is expected to fall somewhere in
the range of £108m to £114m, with recurring revenue accounting for around £98m to
£102m of that.
Online marketing group Asia Digital – which operates through two digital advertising
divisions, DGM and AKTIV, saw shares tumble by a quarter on Tuesday after offloading
an Australian unit of DGM that accounted for 70% of revenues in 2010.
THE FTSE 100 AT CLOSED DOWN 9 @ 6007
THE DOW JONES AT 4.40 IS UP 15 @ 12,415
THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.40 IS UP 10 @ 2799
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1. 6267
GBP - EURO 1.1440
Tuesday 5th, April 2011 05:10pm.