FTSE 100 movers: Haleon heads higher; Ocado hit by downgrade

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 7,185.07 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Schroders tumbled as a five-for-one split was applied to the share price, while online supermarket Ocado slid after a downgrade to ‘reduce’ from ‘hold’ at HSBC.

Consumer healthcare business Haleon - which was recently spun off from GlaxoSmithKline -rallied as it posted a jump in first-half revenues and profits.

Steve Clayton, fund manager at HL Select, said: "We were expecting a decent update from Haleon, given their earlier trading statement back in June and they have duly delivered. Their portfolio is delivering good growth, backed up by buoyant free cash flow coming from a strong stable of consumer healthcare brands. The group’s earnings should be resilient in the face of economic weakness given they address real and recurring consumer needs.

"Litigation surrounding Zantac, which was previously marketed by GSK and Pfizer is a distraction, but Haleon itself never marketed this product and we do not see significant financial costs, other than those of defending the litigation, being incurred by Haleon as a result.

"With strong cash flows, Haleon should rapidly deleverage, which will help to drive financial returns higher, over and above the growth from the brands portfolio. Haleon should have excellent dividend growth potential over the longer term as a result."

Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey also lost ground amid worries about rising interest rates.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Haleon (HLN) 267.05p 2.95%
Fresnillo (FRES) 747.60p 2.41%
Halma (HLMA) 2,045.00p 2.25%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.81p 2.10%
WPP (WPP) 781.60p 1.90%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 107.66p 1.59%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,502.50p 1.51%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 536.40p 1.28%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 904.00p 1.12%
BP (BP.) 456.95p 1.08%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Schroders (SDR) 426.85p -15.24%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 614.00p -8.49%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,327.50p -7.17%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,142.00p -5.72%
SEGRO (SGRO) 836.60p -5.30%
Unite Group (UTG) 954.50p -4.65%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 409.10p -4.64%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,072.00p -4.46%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 106.30p -4.19%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 103.60p -3.67%