London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,052.05 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Inspection, product testing and certification group Intertek was the worst performer on the index despite reporting a rise in half-year profits.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG flew lower as it posted a narrowing of its first-half operating losses and said capacity was set to grow, but struck a cautious note on the outlook due to Covid uncertainty.
Education publisher Pearson was the top gainer after reporting better-than-expected first-half profit and underlying sales as demand for online learning increased.
Property portal Rightmove was higher after it reported a jump in interim pre-tax profit and revenue amid strong demand from househunters.
Telecoms group BT was also in the black, having slumped a day earlier after a first-quarter update.
Croda was boosted by an upgrade to ‘equalweight’ from ‘underweight’ at Barclays, which cited a “much-improved” growth outlook, after the speciality chemicals company’s results earlier in the week. The bank said it has underestimated the extent to which Croda is benefitting from the ongoing vaccine boom.
“In addition to its leading lipid offering for the mRNA technology, the legacy adjuvants and excipients businesses have also contributed to a step-change in profitability,” it said.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Pearson (PSON) 876.00p 3.82%
Rightmove (RMV) 705.00p 3.65%
BT Group (BT.A) 175.20p 1.92%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,216.00p 1.76%
Croda International (CRDA) 8,386.00p 1.35%
Sage Group (SGE) 701.20p 1.24%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,151.50p 1.08%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,390.00p 0.98%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,646.00p 0.92%
Diageo (DGE) 3,571.00p 0.88%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,070.00p -9.53%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 170.46p -6.16%
Informa (INF) 490.40p -4.18%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,721.50p -3.83%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,171.00p -3.64%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 99.08p -3.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,198.50p -2.87%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 159.65p -2.68%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,127.00p -2.53%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,050.00p -2.31%
