London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,127.14 in afternoon trade on Friday.
London Stock Exchange Group was the standout gainer on the index after it more than doubled profits in the first half of the year as total income grew 4.6%.
The company said adjusted pre-tax profits came in at £1.03bn from £435m a year ago. Adjusted operating expenses grew 1.1% and £77m in synergies had been achieved from the acquisition of Refinitiv.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals fell despite upgrading the full-year outlook for its generics arm and reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenue as it hailed a strong performance in both the generics and branded segments, and resilience in the injectables business.
Reported pre-tax profit rose to $319m from $274m in the first half of 2020, with revenue up 7% at $1.2bn. Operating profit was 10% higher at $326m.
The company declared an interim dividend of 18 cents, up from 16 cents the year before.
FTSE 100 – Risers
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,874.00p 5.44%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,890.00p 4.29%
Prudential (PRU) 1,432.00p 3.06%
Evraz (EVR) 616.20p 2.53%
Aviva (AV.) 399.20p 1.97%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,595.00p 1.96%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,452.00p 1.83%
Barclays (BARC) 182.46p 1.52%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,698.50p 1.52%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 275.20p 1.36%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,467.00p -6.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 789.80p -3.14%
Experian (EXPN) 3,131.00p -2.97%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,027.00p -1.98%
Kingfisher (KGF) 362.70p -1.95%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,731.00p -1.69%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 4,036.00p -1.49%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 175.38p -1.47%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,251.00p -1.42%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,190.00p -1.36%
