RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MORNING REPORT

14 OCTOBER 2010

London this morning crept higher following yesterday’s gains, with a stream of updates giving investors plenty to ponder.

In mining, Rio Tinto has edged higher after reporting that for the for the third quarter operations were running at or close to capacity. “This quarter we achieved record production in iron ore, alumina and coking coal,” said chief executive Tom Albanese.

Newsagent and bookshop WH Smith is in demand after it posted a strong rise in profits and upped its final dividend by a fifth after a record year from its outlets in railway stations and airports. Pre-tax profits in the year to August jumped by 9% from the previous year to £89m, even as revenues slipped to £1.31bn from £1.34bn. A final dividend of 13.3p is proposed, up 18% on the previous year.

Also in retail-related stocks, Mothercare, the baby clothes and children’s toy retailer, put in a better performance during the second quarter, narrowing the decline in like for like sales compared with the first three months. UK like for like sales dropped 3.2%, or 1.9% including VAT, in the 13 weeks ended 9 October, slightly less than the 4.1% reported in the 15 weeks to 10 July.

Finally, pub chain JD Wetherspoon is lower today after announcing some senior departures. The chain famous for 99p pints is losing its finance director and chief operating officer “in due course” after just a couple of years on the board. Former Tesco man Keith Down, finance boss and company secretary since 2008, and Paul Harbottle, at Wetherspoon since 2003 and now chief operating officer, will leave.

THE FTSE 100 AT 9.30 IS UP 2 @ 5749

THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 75 @ 11,096

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 23 @ 2441

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 16

GBP – EUR 1. 138 ??

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