FTSE 100 movers: Pearson boosted by upgrade; Mondi retreats
London’s FTSE 100 was steady at 7,039.28 in afternoon trade on Thursday as investors mulled the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England.
Pearson was the top performer after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded its stance on shares of the education publisher to ‘outperform’ and hiked the price target to 950p from 700p. Exane said it reckons Pearson will succeed in scaling its up director-to-consumer and D2C educational tech revenues as it progress in its asset reshuffling.
"This should accelerate its top line growth and drive margin expansion," Exane said.
Next was also in the black after the retailer upgraded its guidance for annual pre-tax profit by £20m to £720m after sales beat expectations in the first quarter.
Barratt Developments was higher as the housebuilder said it expects full-year results to be "modestly above" prior expectations following a strong start to the new year.
On the downside, Admiral and Croda were both weaker as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Mondi was also in the red even as it reported strong demand for its packaging as online shopping surged and customers looked for more eco-friendly products in the first quarter.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Pearson (PSON) 827.20p 2.45%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,575.00p 2.41%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 104.00p 2.20%
Next (NXT) 8,304.00p 2.19%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,770.00p 1.99%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,933.00p 1.98%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 780.40p 1.93%
National Grid (NG.) 926.50p 1.80%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,725.00p 1.65%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 206.55p 1.60%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,966.00p -4.63%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,938.00p -2.54%
Renishaw (RSW) 6,145.00p -1.84%
WPP (WPP) 980.20p -1.78%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,349.00p -1.75%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,928.50p -1.71%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,871.50p -1.60%
BP (BP.) 313.45p -1.59%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,760.00p -1.57%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,549.00p -1.37%