RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MORNING REPORT 15 February 2011

Barclays has cut its staff bonuses by 7% even though profits jumped by a better than expected 32% as bad charges tumbled everywhere except Spain. Pre-tax profits in 2010 rose to £6.1bn, up from £4.59bn, and well ahead of forecasts of about £5.5bn. Bonuses were down 12% at Barclays Capital where profits rose 2% to £4.78bn excluding the effect of own credit. Lloyds is up in sympathy.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) grew profit by 24% in 2010, but the Holiday Inns operator predicts a $3m hit this year from the recent unrest in Egypt. Pre-tax profit before exceptional items jumped to $382m from $309m in 2009 on revenue up 6% at $1.63bn.

Elsewhere, supermarket chain Morrisons has made its long awaited first step into the online retailing world with the purchase of web-based retailer Kiddicare. It’s paying £70m for the company and, more importantly, the rights to its technology platform, which could form the basis of Morrisons own online offering.

Pizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza posted a 27% increase in profit before tax to £38m. Statutory profit fell to £35.2m from £41m. Like-for-like sales grew 11.9%, up from 8.4% the year before.

Finally, Peppa Pig franchise owner Entertainment One said it had another strong quarter with revenue and underlying EBITDA in the period continuing to track well ahead of the previous year. For the nine months to 31 December reported revenue was up 22% compared to the comparative period (14% at constant currency) boosted by good progress in the Film and Television businesses.

THE FTSE 100 AT 9.30 IS UP 3 @ 6063 THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 5 @ 12,268

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 6 @ 2385

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