RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT

16 JULY 2010

London stocks continue to make progress as company announcements have been well received by investors.

BP’s share climb 15p to 417p after announcing yesterday it had temporarily stopped the flow of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in 3 months. The shutdown is part of an ‘integrity test’ to see if the leaking wellhead can finally be contained.

Luxury brand Burberry up 21p to 812p has decided to take its 50 franchised shores in China under its own control as part of a move to unify its brand globally. Burberry will pay ?70 million in cash and the transaction is expected to add up to ?20 million to group operating profit in the financial year 2011/12.

Accountancy software provider Sage, down 2p at 239p has named Guy Berruyer, currently head of its mainland Europe & Asia operations, to take over from chief executive Paul Walker.

Electrical components company Spectris expects full year results to be ahead of forecasts after an ‘encouraging’ first half. The group said it is continuing to see an improvement in demand over the prior year, with signs of recovery throughout most regions and end markets.

Assets under management fell 7.2% at fixed income fund manager BlueBay Asset Management during the fourth quarter, but still predicts a big increase in full-year profit. At the end of June, the company had $34.3 billion of assets under management, up 41% on the same time last year.

THE FTSE AT 12.10 IS UP 56 @ 5267

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 7 @ 10,359

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 1 @ 2249

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 536

GBP – EUR 1. 186