London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 7,212.86 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering racked up strong gains after lifting its dividend by 15% as it reported a 39% increase in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit.
Admiral Insurance ticked higher, with shareholders set to cash in as the company paid an increased interim dividend and extra payouts after the sale of its Penguin Portals business. The insurer also posted a 76% increase in half-year pre-tax profit from continuing operations.
Cybersecurity firm Avast advanced after it agreed to be bought by US rival NortonLifeLock in a £6.2bn deal and posted a jump in first-half adjusted earnings and revenue.
Phoenix Group was in the red despite reporting a rise in first-half operating profit and a more than doubling of its cash generation.
FTSE 100 – Risers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 974.80p 3.72%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,120.00p 3.44%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 15,620.00p 3.27%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,557.00p 3.13%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 301.90p 2.72%
Avast (AVST) 583.40p 2.64%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,817.00p 2.64%
Evraz (EVR) 647.00p 2.28%
Glencore (GLEN) 337.50p 2.13%
Fresnillo (FRES) 787.80p 2.02%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,387.00p -2.23%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 686.60p -1.91%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,105.00p -0.96%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 556.00p -0.89%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,133.00p -0.61%
Pearson (PSON) 794.00p -0.58%
National Grid (NG.) 946.50p -0.53%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 177.60p -0.50%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,364.00p -0.44%
Rightmove (RMV) 704.20p -0.42%
