London’s FTSE 100 was down 1% at 7,007.99 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Supermarket chain Tesco rallied as it lifted full-year earnings guidance after strong first-half sales helped interim profits to more than double against a backdrop of labour shortages and cost pressures. The company also said it was starting an ongoing share buyback with the first tranche of £500m to be bought within a year.
HSBC was lifted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ at UBS, which upped the price target to 485p from 450p.
Imperial Brands was in the red despite saying it was on track to meet full-year expectations as the business continues to perform well.
Group net revenue is expected to grow by around 1% on an organic, constant currency basis, driven by continued strong pricing in tobacco.
Meanwhile, adjusted organic operating profit is set to be in line with company guidance of low to mid-single digit constant currency growth. This reflects “significantly” reduced losses in Next Generation Products (NGPs) and increased profit in distribution.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Tesco (TSCO) 268.90p 6.28%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 407.45p 3.68%
Pearson (PSON) 746.20p 3.61%
Fresnillo (FRES) 799.80p 2.80%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 451.60p 2.22%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,257.00p 1.33%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,424.50p 1.14%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,058.00p 1.08%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,665.00p 0.76%
Prudential (PRU) 1,475.00p 0.10%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 161.20p -4.64%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,297.00p -4.35%
Next (NXT) 7,700.00p -4.25%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,024.00p -4.21%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 179.52p -3.68%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,237.00p -3.66%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 138.80p -3.64%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,501.00p -3.38%
Informa (INF) 563.60p -3.29%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 148.15p -3.23%
