RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MORNING REPORT 20th DECEMBER 2010

Shares are little changed in early dealings, perhaps a taste of things to come this week as news dries up heading into the Christmas break.

British Airways, which saw many flights grounded in Britain over the weekend and is still facing severe disruption, is a notable faller.

Elsewhere, rumours that Ladbrokes is mulling a bid for internet casino firm 888 have been confirmed by the high street bookmaker.

“Ladbrokes confirms that it is in very preliminary discussions with 888. There can be no certainty that these discussions will ultimately lead to an offer for 888 being made, nor as to the terms of any such offer,” it said in a brief statement. A similar announcement has also been issued by 888. It’s thought a price of 70p for each 888 share is being discussed. That would value the business at about £240m.

Scottish port operator Forth Ports said it is on course to achieve targets for 2010 as momentum at its ports continues. Underlying pre-tax profit for the full year is in line with company expectations, the group said in a company update. Overall trading within the ports in Scotland and Tilbury remains in line with the group's expectations despite the recent spell of severe winter weather.

Apart from the sale of its Swedish business earlier this month, not much has changed at Davis Service Group since November’s interims, according to the laundry and workwear firm. Then, it reported a modest improvement in interim earnings and said it was confident of posting full year results in line with expectations.

THE FTSE 100 AT 9.55 IS UP 3 @ 5874

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 7 @ 11,491

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED ` UP 5 @ 2642

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.55 GBP – EUR 1.18