London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,273.99 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Intertek was the top performer after saying it was on track for solid annual growth as the product testing company reported revenue up 6.7% in the most recent four-month period.
Excluding currency movements, revenue rose to £961.5m from £941m in the four months to the end of October, helped by acquisitions. Including currency swings revenue rose 2.2% and like-for-like revenue was up 0.5%. At constant currency, like-for-like revenue rose 5%.
Landsec was a high riser following a report it is in talks with Lendlease about the acquisition of a 25% stake in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent in a £200m deal. According to Property Week, a deal would see Landsec take majority control of the Dartford shopping mall, lifting its stake to 55%. It cited sources as saying that the two parties are close to agreeing a deal.
Shares of Entain and Flutter slumped after more than 160 UK parliamentarians called for online betting limits to protect children from gambling.
In a letter to the Telegraph, a group of MPs and peers, including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, called for “bold” government action to curb gambling including limiting online bets to £2.
Chemicals company Johnson Matthey fell after it said it had sold its advanced glass technologies business to Fenzi Holdings for £178m as it reported a half-year loss and announced a £200m share buyback.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,452.00p 5.66%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,818.00p 1.62%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,746.00p 1.62%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 160.15p 1.49%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,030.00p 1.45%
British Land Company (BLND) 531.60p 1.41%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 749.60p 1.24%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.42p 1.24%
Schroders (SDR) 3,604.00p 1.09%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,373.50p 1.07%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Entain (ENT) 1,803.00p -4.35%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,216.00p -4.26%
Darktrace (DARK) 478.80p -4.01%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 10,730.00p -2.81%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,128.50p -2.51%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,334.50p -2.16%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 158.15p -2.07%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 133.08p -2.05%
Sage Group (SGE) 768.00p -1.94%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,141.00p -1.88%
