RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
EVENING REPORT 10 MARCH 2011
An unexpected deficit prompted the selling of mining stocks such as Fresnillo,
ENRC, Rio Tinto and Anglo-American.
Elsewhere, Home Retail lowered full year profit guidance as trading remains tough,
especially at Argos. The guidance range for the year just finished has been lowered
to between £250m and £255m, versus market consensus of £260.9m. "There are clear signs
of further pressures on consumer spending, with recent trading conditions, particularly
at Argos, proving to be more difficult and volatile than we anticipated,” said boss
Terry Duddy.
Morrisons predicted tough times but it is bucking the downward trend today after it
beat expectations in 2010 as its reputation for value had hard-pressed shoppers flocking
to its stores. Underlying pre-tax profits totalled £874m for the year, ahead of estimates
and up from £767m the previous year. Turnover climbed by 7% to £16.5bn.
It also stirred up excitement with its plans to move into the online arena. The Yorkshire-
based firm is moving to New York having invested £32m on a stake in FreshDirect, an online
grocer operating in the US city.
GlaxoSmithKline was wanted after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the green
light to Benlysta, a treatment for an inflammatory condition called Lupus. Glaxo developed
the drug in conjunction with the drug’s discoverer, Human Genome Services.
Finally, in the pharmaceuticals sector Shire got a lift from Morgan Stanley, which has
raised its rating on the shares to “overweight” and ratcheted up its price target to 2210p.
THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 92 @ 5845
THE DOW JONES AT 4.40 IS DOWN 164 @ 12,049
THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.40 IS DOWN 42 @ 2709
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.6200
GBP - EURO 1.1652
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