FTSE 100 movers: Pearson boosted by update; Glaxo dented by downgrade

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,735.32 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Education publisher Pearson was the standout gainer as it said sales and profit for the full year were in line with expectations despite the additional impact of Covid-19 in the fourth quarter.

Burberry also gained after it sales fell in the third quarter as the impact of Covid-19 and fewer price cuts offset strong sales of full-price items boosted by its association with footballer Marcus Rashford.

On the downside, Standard Chartered was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Citi after the recent share price rally.

GlaxoSmithKline was also weaker, after a downgrade to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse, which cut its price target to 1,400p from 1,580p as it said multiple near-term and strategic challenges make for limited upside versus peers.

The bank said it expects to see a continued focus on the upcoming split into consumer and pharma units, and said this was "a natural time" to revisit the pharma dividend policy.

CS said its ‘PharmaValues 2021’ analysis highlights the poor R&D productivity at GSK and the need to invest in the pipeline.

"Given the stated consumer dividend goals, pharma would need to pay out 84% of earnings to maintain its 80p dividend," it said, adding that this is not optimal given the need to rebuild the pipeline.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pearson (PSON) 724.20p 6.66%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,917.00p 6.58%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,821.50p 4.80%
Evraz (EVR) 519.00p 3.02%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 307.00p 2.92%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,568.00p 2.88%
Informa (INF) 537.40p 2.79%
Glencore (GLEN) 281.20p 2.72%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,668.00p 2.71%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,681.50p 2.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 464.00p -2.64%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,380.00p -2.16%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.32p -1.88%
Experian (EXPN) 2,641.00p -1.42%
National Grid (NG.) 866.60p -1.39%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 378.60p -1.38%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 155.15p -1.37%
Avast (AVST) 533.00p -1.30%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,550.00p -1.16%
British Land Company (BLND) 443.10p -1.09%