RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
17 MARCH 2011
MIDDAY REPORT
Shares are making modest gains as investors pause for breath following heavy losses lately
amid unsettling developments in Japan and the Arab World. There were more losses in Tokyo as
worries over radiation from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
Miners are going strong, with Xstrata leading the sector higher in the FTSE 100.
Legal & General is confident, despite a drop in full-year operating profit, as sales rose 28%
and the government’s decision to cut state benefits forces people to make their own provisions.
The country’s fourth-largest life insurer grew worldwide Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) sales
to £1.8bn last year from £1.4bn in 2009. European Embedded Value (EEV) operating profit fell 7%
to £1.22bn, but profit before tax more than tripled to £1.68bn from £552m a year ago.
Construction products supplier SIG posted higher profits in 2010 as it recovered from the
economic downturn following the 2008-09 global crash, but warned that government cuts will
counteract private sector growth this year. SIG, which supplies materials for insulation,
roofing and other areas of construction, posted an underlying pre-tax profit of £62.5m for
the period, up 3.1% from the previous year, on revenues that slipped 2% to £2.67bn.
THE FTSE 100 AT NOON IS UP 52 @ 5649
THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 242 @ 11613
THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 50 @ 2616
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.6158
GBP - EURO 1.1517
Thursday 17th, March 2011 12:10pm.
