RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

21 OCTOBER 2010

The FTSE 100 is still going strong with a good start on Wall Street underpinning earlier gains.

BT is higher after a favourable court ruling. The UK government has to guarantee all BT employees in the BT pension scheme, not just the ones that joined prior to privatisation in 1984, it was decided.

GlaxoSmithKline is slightly off colour. The drug giant reported better than expected earnings per share before restructuring costs but it said that the operating environment is challenging.

Defence giant BAE expects to see a reduction in growth in 2010 due to the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) that was announced on Tuesday, it said today. While it can help the government to achieve efficiency targets, the company expects the SDSR to have a “modest impact” on its UK business, resulting in a reduction in earnings of about 1p a share.

Finally, in the FTSE 250, Debenhams is going well after reporting full year results. In the year to August 28, pre-tax profits climbed by 20.6% from the previous year to £151m. Gross transaction value climbed to £2.56bn from £2.34bn, with the acquisition of Danish department store Magasin du Nord accounting nearly all of the rise.



THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 28 @ 5757 THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 56 @ 11,164

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 21 @ 2479

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 57

GBP – EUR 1. 12 ??

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