London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.8% at 7,207.25 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals slid after the animal drug maker raised around £180m in a discounted share placing for the acquisition of US-based Piedmont Animal Health.
SSE was weaker even as it said its first-quarter performance slightly exceeded its expectations, with continued progress on key energy infrastructure projects.
On the upside, 3i Group gained after saying it had made a good start to the new financial year, with both portfolios trading “resiliently”.
Howden Joinery rallied after it posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue as it said it was trading “well ahead” of pre-Covid levels and backed its outlook for the year. The kitchen supplier said first-half pre-tax profit rose 21.6% to £145m, with revenues up 16.3% on the year at £913.1m. Versus 2019 pre-Covid levels, pre-tax profit was up 85.7% and revenues were ahead 39.9%.
JD Sports was in the black following reports it is looking to sell the Footasylum chain to Aurelius Group.
FTSE 100 – Risers
3i Group (III) 1,245.00p 4.01%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 651.00p 3.50%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,245.00p 3.21%
Rightmove (RMV) 634.80p 3.15%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 144.15p 3.11%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 616.40p 2.66%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 125.50p 2.66%
RS Group (RS1) 1,003.00p 2.45%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,451.00p 2.44%
WPP (WPP) 874.00p 2.37%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,562.00p -4.50%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 340.50p -2.77%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,650.00p -2.45%
Fresnillo (FRES) 644.80p -2.39%
BAE Systems (BA.) 784.00p -2.39%
Glencore (GLEN) 416.10p -2.34%
National Grid (NG.) 1,076.00p -2.27%
Avast (AVST) 516.20p -2.05%
SSE (SSE) 1,728.50p -1.98%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,190.00p -1.78%
