RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT

17TH NOVEMBER 2010

The FTSE is flat now following a jittery start that has seen worries over Ireland take centre stage again.

BHP Billiton is to increase its spending on its iron ore mine operation at Pilbara, Western Australia by $635m. The investment comes a month after BHP and Rio Tinto abandoned plans to merge their Pilbara operations in the face of regulatory, customer and shareholder objections

Over here, utility group Centrica said it had a strong third quarter, with operating profit forecasts for 2010 “slightly” ahead of current market expectations, though earnings per share will likely match estimates. British Gas, which last week announced a 7% hike in bills for both electricity and gas, is still doing well. The number of residential energy accounts on supply is up 270,000 since the start of the year, while services accounts have jumped 181,000. The government’s scrappage scheme was good for the boiler installation business. It put in 29% more of them in the first ten months of 2010. Credit checking firm Experian saw improving trends across all regions in the first half of its financial year. Revenue from continuing activities in the six months to 30 September was up 8% at constant exchange rates, while organic revenue growth was 7%. Total group revenue improved to $2bn from $1.9bn the year before. Profit before tax fell to $283m from $316m. “For the year as a whole, we expect to deliver similar rates of organic revenue growth to the first half, and we are targeting modest improvement in our EBIT margin," said boss Don Robert.

Business publisher Informa saw continuing growth and recovery in its three main divisions in the first 10 months of 2010. The company said it is trading in line with management expectations and is seeing encouraging renewals and forward bookings for next year.

THE FTSE 100 AT 12.30 PM IS DOWN 13 @ 5667

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 178 @ 11,023 THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 43 @ 2169

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.58

GBP – EUR 1.17