London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,203.55 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Melrose Industries was under the cosh as the turnaround specialist announced plans to demerge its GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy businesses and list the new holding company.
News of the planned demerger came alongside the company’s results for the six months to 30 June, which it said were at the higher end of expectations.
On an adjusted basis, pre-tax profit rose to £128m from £114, while revenue grew to £3.9m from £3.7m. On a statutory basis, the company’s pre-tax loss widened to £358m from £275m in the same period a year earlier, while revenue rose to £3.6m from £3.4m.
Associated British Foods was also in the red after the Primark owner warned that adjusted operating profit and earnings per share for the next financial year will be lower than this financial year.
Ocado was among the risers after an upgrade to ‘equalweight’ from ‘underweight’ at Barclays, which cut the price target to 775p from 1,500p as it argued that risks are more evenly balanced.
“With retail sales set to improve, balance sheet concerns reduced for the time being and CFC (customer fulfilment centre) deal flow expectations tempered, we think the balance of upside and downside risks is now more evenly poised,” the bank said.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 137.10p 2.24%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,805.00p 1.63%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,121.00p 1.45%
Fresnillo (FRES) 710.20p 1.31%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 582.60p 1.01%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,675.50p 0.94%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 739.60p 0.79%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 462.30p 0.54%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,196.00p 0.50%
Experian (EXPN) 2,632.00p 0.42%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 124.80p -9.34%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,330.50p -8.56%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 339.10p -6.40%
Next (NXT) 5,716.00p -5.49%
Entain (ENT) 1,151.00p -4.88%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 815.00p -4.14%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 198.60p -4.06%
3i Group (III) 1,135.00p -3.73%
Tesco (TSCO) 240.60p -3.49%
Kingfisher (KGF) 233.40p -3.03%
