FTSE 100 movers: Royal Mail rallies; AB Foods retreats

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 7,076.34 in afternoon trade on Monday.

Royal Mail was the standout gainer following news that the Post Office will begin handling packages for Amazon.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Since its May peaks, Royal Mail shares have declined over 15% over concerns that the return to normal, and pandemic easing of restrictions would hit its parcel volumes over the rest of the year.

"This is certainly a valid concern given the decline of 13% seen in Q1, however this concern may well have been overestimated, given that management left full year guidance unchanged in July, while revenues were still over 20% up from 2019 levels."

On the downside, Primark owner Associated British Foods fell even as it raised its full-year profit outlook as weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales at Primark were offset by strong profit margins in the fashion business and a solid performance from its food and sugar divisions.

AB Foods said adjusted operating profit for its 2020-21 fiscal year, before repayment of job retention cash, would be marginally above last year excluding the benefit of a 53rd week this year. It had previously forecast it to be in line with the previous year's £1bn.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Mail (RMG) 492.40p 4.08%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,590.00p 2.98%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,773.00p 2.50%
National Grid (NG.) 959.00p 2.47%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,807.00p 2.45%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.60p 2.44%
BP (BP.) 302.85p 2.44%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,452.40p 2.37%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,458.40p 2.36%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 698.40p 2.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,922.50p -2.41%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 629.80p -1.90%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,379.50p -1.50%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,896.00p -1.46%
Rightmove (RMV) 735.60p -1.45%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,985.00p -1.29%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,990.00p -1.14%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,232.00p -1.06%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 580.20p -0.96%
Entain (ENT) 1,908.50p -0.93%