RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MORNING REPORT

21 OCTOBER 2010

A couple of company news items have been given a frosty reception, helping tip the leading share index into the red.

TUI Travel, owner of the Thomson travel agent brand, is lower after saying it had to restate results for the 2008/09 and take an extra £88m charge linked to the integration of IT systems in its UK mainstream business following the merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007.

Oil explorer Tullow is down after saying the Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana encountered water bearing reservoirs.

Defence giant BAE expects to see a reduction in growth in 2010 due to the Strategic Defence and Security Review 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.

In the FTSE 250, Britvic is fizzing after the soft drinks group served up a 33.4% rise in fourth quarter revenue after a robust performance particularly from its French division.

Colt Group, the business communications and IT managed services firm, grew third quarter earnings by 5% despite a 2% dip in revenue and is spending up to €40m on simplifying its business. It’s expected the idea will increase efficiencies to about €35m in a full year, with 35% to be invested in new customer facing roles, providing recurring annual cost savings of around €20m. Colt is “on track to deliver improved profitability for the second half of the year”.

Finally, car dealer Inchcape expects results for 2010 to be ahead of expectations after a better than expected performance in the third quarter. Revenues in the nine months to September 30 were up by 7.6% from the same period the previous year, the company said.

THE FTSE 100 AT 9.15 IS UP 33 @ 5762

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 129 @ 11,107

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 20 @ 2457

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 57

GBP – EUR 1. 126 ??

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