RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT 15 February 2011

Mining stocks were responsible for much of the FTSE 100 decline after an increase in the Chinese inflation rate raised the prospect of further increases in Chinese interest rates in the near future. Consumer prices rose at an annual rate 4.9% in China in January. The rise compares with a 4.6% increase in December, which was still ahead of the Chinese government’s target of 4%.

Xstrata, Anglo American, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and ENRC occupy seven of the ten bottom slots on the list of Footsie constituents.

Elsewhere, real estate investment trust British Land saw a solid increase in underlying pre-tax profit and net asset value (NAV) per share in its third quarter. Underlying profit before tax in the three months to 31 December 2010 was up 10% from a year earlier at £64m. Broker Panmure Gordon had forecast a figure of £65.7m. The group's portfolio at the end of the year was valued at £9.3bn, up 2.3% over the quarter and 13.1% higher than a year earlier.

In the FTSE 250, legacy software specialist Micro Focus slumped. The company has instigated a major cost cutting programme after revenues in the third quarter came in well short of expectations. The software firm will take a restructuring hit of between $14m and $18m in the final quarter of this year after the "disappointing" three months.

Imagination Technologies posted big gains. The designer of technologies for graphics chips has signed a licensing agreement with European device manufacturer STMicroelectronics.

Finally, heavily indebted foods group Premier Foods took a break from selling off parts of its business to announce it fell into the red in 2010, though there was some good news on the debt reduction front. Loss before tax was £98m, compared with a £42m profit the year before, but the dive into the red was caused by a £125m goodwill impairment charge taken on its Brookes Avana chilled ready meals business.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 23 @ 6037

THE DOW JONES AT 4.45 IS DOWN 38 @ 12,229

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.45 IS DOWN 9 @ 2307

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