FTSE 100 movers: Capita and United Utilities hit by Credit Suisse downgrades
Capita and United Utilities were heavy fallers after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stocks to 'neutral' and 'underperform', respectively.
Schroders continued to move lower following Thursday's results, which saw the group warn that "the short-term outlook for retail investor demand is uncertain given no clear trend in markets", although in the longer term it was encouraged by a wide range of growth opportunities across the business.
Healthcare group Smith & Nephew was the strongest riser on Friday afternoon as investors turned to defensive stocks in the face of a wider market sell-off. The medical device maker was also lifted by a second-quarter report that modestly beat forecasts.
Adjusted earnings per share rose 13% to 20.4 cents in the second quarter as a result of a rebalancing of the business towards higher growth markets. Consensus estimates were for earnings of 19.4 per share. Revenues increased 3% to $1.14bn, ahead of the $1.13bn forecast.
British Airways and Iberia owner International Airlines Group was flying higher as it moved into the black in the first half, said cost-cutting should help it boost annual profits and announced it was buying 16 Airbus jets.
IMI climbed as investors chose to focus on the 3% rise in organic revenue rather than the same percentage drop in first half turnover. The engineering group said the operating margin declined by 60 basis points from 17.6% to 17.0%, while adjusted pre-tax profit came in at £127m, down from £134m a year earlier. On a statutory basis, pre-tax profit slumped 9% from £117m to £106m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,063.00p +3.61%
BG Group (BG.) 1,202.00p +2.56%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 338.50p +2.33%
Royal Mail (RMG) 422.80p +1.29%
IMI (IMI) 1,435.00p +1.27%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,110.00p +1.19%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,690.00p +0.90%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 901.00p +0.84%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 854.00p +0.83%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 351.70p +0.72%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 864.00p -2.92%
Schroders (SDR) 2,322.00p -2.85%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,890.00p -2.33%
Capita (CPI) 1,177.00p -2.08%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,407.50p -2.02%
ITV (ITV) 204.70p -1.92%
Standard Life (SL.) 367.70p -1.89%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,517.00p -1.83%
BT Group (BT.A) 381.70p -1.75%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,903.00p -1.65%
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