RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT 14th January 2011

Leading shares were mixed at the outset leaving the blue-chip index barely changed but have since moved to point south.

Sparkling results after the bell in New York yesterday from chip-maker Intel has whetted appetite for chip designer ARM Holdings. The stock smashes its way to another 52-week high and is up 40% over the last month.

Bovis Homes predicts profits for 2010 will beat consensus estimates. A “significant” improvement in profits to more than £16.3m has been driven by a 5% increase in the number of legally completed homes to 1,901 at an average sale price of £160,700, up 4% on the year before.

UK defence giant BAE Systems has made an agreed offer for AIM-listed financial crime prevention specialist Norkom Group. BAE is offering €2.10 per Norkom share in a deal that values the Dublin-headquartered firm at €217m.

Fund manager F&C Asset Management, under fire from activist investor Sherborne Investors, is going down the outsourcing route to save £9m a year in costs.

The group has been in discussions with a number of potential outsourcing providers and has the short-list of preferred partners down to two.

Fashion retailer Ted Baker lifted sales by 7.6% over the Christmas period, though this total was hit by the weather disruption. The firm does not give like-for-like comparisons, but says average retail square footage increased by 6.6% over the period to 223,623 sq.ft. Finally, Lookers will beat its own expectations for the full-year and deliver results at the top end of analysts’ forecasts after the car dealer’s strong run continued through the fourth quarter.

THE FTSE 100 AT NOON IS DOWN 57 @ 5966

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 23 @ 11,731

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 1 @ 2735

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.58 GBP – EUR 1.18

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