RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

22 JULY 2010

Better than expected UK retail sales gave equities a boost and the FTSE 100 index finished the day firmly higher following a good start on Wall Street.

Britons building up supplies for the last month’s World Cup, the good weather and further discounting had retail sales up smartly in June. Retail sales volumes rose a bigger than expected 0.7% between May and June, according to the Office for National Statistics, while May’s gain was revised up to 0.8% from 0.6%.

Outsourcing giant Capita is leading the advance. The company said pressures on public spending may affect growth in the short term but it is confident its ability to deliver cost efficiencies will stand it in good stead.

“There is buoyant demand for outsourcing across both the private sectors, with the most active markets in our strong bid pipeline remaining local government and life and pensions,” said Paul Pinder, chief executive of Capita.

Imperial Tobacco revealed cigarette volumes for the nine months to June were down 4.3% as a result of market declines in Spain, USA, Russia and Ukraine being only partly offset by gains in Central Europe. Overall, the group’s financial performance for the financial year to 30 September remains in line with expectations.

Tate & Lyle said it has made a sound start to the year and continues to anticipate progress in the current full year. However, despite some improvement in demand, industrial starch margins are expected to remain at lower levels and the group continues to see little near term improvement in US ethanol markets.

THE FTSE AT CLOSED UP 99 @ 5313

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS DOWN 197 @ 10,318

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS DOWN 57 @ 2245

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 526

GBP – EUR 1. 1832