RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT

26 JULY 2010

London share prices are seeking direction as US futures point to a flat start on Wall Street this afternoon.

Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays show strong gains after they sailed through the European banking system stress tests last week.

BP climbs 8p to 407p after the oil giant confirmed it will hold a board meeting today to decide the fate of chief executive Tony Hayward, but said no final decision has been made.

Shares in Tullow Oil rally 48p to ?12.27. It has found a significant column of excellent quality light oil when drilling the Owo-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana.

Financial Times publisher Pearson reported a rise in first-half profits and increased its full-year outlook. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to ?203 million from ?111 million. The board declared an interim dividend of 13p per share, a 7% increase on 2009.

Reckitt Benckiser saw net revenue rise by 10% to ?2,061 million in the second quarter of 2010. Net income improved 23% to ?380 million in line with the group’s full year targets.

Digital TV set-top box maker Pace reported a 46% hike in half year pre-tax profit and announced the proposed acquisition of 2Wire for an expected $55 million to beef up its US customer base.

Connaught warned that debt levels would be worse than feared and that it was set to breach the terms of its loans, sending its shares 75% lower.

THE FTSE AT 12:40 DOWN 6 @ 5307

THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 102 @ 10,424

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 23 @ 2269

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 549

GBP – EUR 1. 199