RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT 11 February 2011

The FTSE 100 has rallied from a weak start with resources stocks sparking into life and buyers encouraged by some bid activity among the mid-caps.

Support services group Carillion is moving up nicely after agreeing to pay £306.5m for green support services business Eaga. In a deal recommended by Eaga bosses, shareholders will get 118.79p a share in cash and receive the 1.21p interim dividend, taking the total to 120p.

Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy are going well with the oil price heading higher even though oil producers' cartel Opec says it will up production to keep prices stable.

Online delivery service Ocado has tumbled after it confirmed 11% shareholder John Lewis has sold its stake now that the lock-up period following last July's float has ended. Shares in Ocado have risen 50% over the last month.

Elsewhere, emergency repair service provider Homeserve is still predicting a year of strong growth with profit matching City expectations. Customer and policy numbers were both 14% higher at the end of 2010 than at the same time the previous year, up to 4.8m and 10.9m respectively.

Pubs group Mitchells and Butlers has named senior independent director Simon Burke as its new chairman, taking over from John Lovering who steps down today. Burke has been on the board as non-executive deputy chairman since January 2010. He’s also chairman of HobbyCraft and a non-executive director of the BBC Executive Board.

Finally, Shaftesbury, the property company focused on London’s theatre-land district, said demand for its properties has remained healthy since the end of September. Investment activity in the area is on the up and is predicted to increase over the next 12 months.

THE FTSE 100 AT NOON IS DOWN 16 @ 6003

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 10 @ 12,229

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP @ 2790

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.6051 GBP - EURO 1.1859