(Sharecast News) – London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,557.68 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Entain was the top gainer as it said that chief executive officer Jette Nygaard-Andersen has resigned from her position with immediate effect. It has appointed Stella David, a non-executive director, as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is selected.
Jette’s decision to leave came after the resolution of HMRC’s investigation into the company’s legacy Turkish-facing business.
BAE Systems was also on the front foot after it won a contract worth up to $8.8bn with the US Army to continue as the operating contractor of the Holston Army Ammunition Plant (HSAAP) with a base period of 10 years.
B&M European Value Retail tumbled after SSA investments sold 27.8m shares in the discount retailer in a placing. The shares were priced at 582.5p each – a 3% discount to the closing share price on Tuesday – raising aggregate gross sale proceeds of £162.1m.
Advertising giant WPP was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan. The bank pointed to slowing US macro and share losses.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Entain (ENT) 836.80p 3.87%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,472.00p 2.95%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 666.60p 1.86%
SEGRO (SGRO) 845.40p 1.71%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 235.20p 1.55%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 571.00p 1.38%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,070.00p 1.28%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,763.00p 1.25%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,100.00p 1.20%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 417.50p 1.19%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 560.40p -6.66%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,821.50p -4.43%
Rightmove (RMV) 568.80p -4.37%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 65.55p -2.32%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 729.20p -2.17%
Prudential (PRU) 866.40p -1.68%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 156.90p -1.44%
WPP (WPP) 727.40p -1.30%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 301.00p -1.21%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 242.60p -0.86%
