FTSE 100 movers: Admiral hit by downgrade, Tesco higher on bid speculation

UK stocks inched lower on Thursday as investors continued to fret over the Greek debt crisis, with creditors issuing an ultimatum to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

As of 14:00, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.3% lower at 6,825.

Insurer Admiral declined after Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, saying it’s a high-quality name, but fully valued. The bank said it sees limited room for price-to-earnings expansion, given the growth profile is unlikely to return to historical levels, even assuming an upswing in UK motor rates.

Blue chips Compass, Experian and United Utilities were also lower after going ex-dividend.

Shares in software company Sage pushed up as Investec upgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'sell', following sharp losses in the previous session on the back of its Capital Markets Day.

Royal Bank of Scotland was trading higher as it appointed Leigh Bartlett as chief financial officer of Williams & Glyn, the company that is being created from the sale of around 300 RBS branches and other business banking elements.

Supermarket giant Tesco advanced on reports that private equity firms Affinity Equity Partners, Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners were among seven or eight preliminary bidders for its South Korean unit.

Old Mutual extended Wednesday's gains, which came as it completed the acquisition of a further 37.3% shareholding in UAP Holdings, bringing its total interest to 60.7%.

Risers
Sage Group (SGE) 534.50p +3.59%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 631.00p +2.10%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 369.10p +1.79%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,436.00p +1.34%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,139.00p +1.24%
Tesco (TSCO) 218.30p +1.16%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 191.30p +1.00%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,009.00p +0.95%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 87.78p +0.75%
BG Group (BG.) 1,117.00p +0.68%

Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 956.00p -3.58%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,094.00p -1.71%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,408.00p -1.61%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,351.50p -1.60%
GKN (GKN) 347.60p -1.33%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,146.00p -1.29%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,196.00p -1.27%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,747.50p -1.19%
Experian (EXPN) 1,196.00p -1.16%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,658.00p -1.13%