FTSE 100 movers: Taylor Wimpey builds gains, Vodafone slumps on CEO exit

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.3% to 7,733.04 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, as investors continued to digest the latest round of UK jobs data.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey gained after saying it plans to bump up its dividend payout, taking peers and Persimmon up with it. The company said it plans to increase the dividend payment to around 7.5% of group net assets, up from 5% and equating to at least £250m per year, up from £150m. In addition, it announced a 2019 special dividend of £350m, taking total dividends for the year to around £600m, up 20% on the year.

Budget airline easyJet flew higher as it said losses narrowed in the first half as revenues surged nearly 20% to over £2bn for the first time, with the company benefiting from the collapse of Monarch and Air Berlin and troubles at Ryanair.

In the six months to the end of March, pre-tax losses came in at £68m versus £236m in the same period a year ago, as revenue jumped to £2.2bn from £1.8bn. The loss is mostly due to costs incurred to expand operations at Berlin's Tegel airport, which it picked up from Air Berlin at the end of last year.

Hargreaves Lansdown ticked higher as the financial services group reported a 3.1% jump in assets under administration in the four months to 30 April.

On the downside, Vodafone was under the cosh after saying that Vittorio Colao will step down in October after 10 years in the job. The mobile phone operator also announced a 40% rise in full-year pre-tax profit to €3.9bn.

Artjom Hatsaturjants, research analyst at Accendo Markets, said: "After 10 years of stability under Colao, Vodafone is potentially setting sail into uncharted waters under the guidance of an executive that has been with the company only four years and has less top level experience than the markets would have been fully comfortable with."

Paddy Power Betfair was also in the red, giving back some gains after surging late on Monday on news that the US Supreme Court had overturned a gambling ban.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 202.30p 3.84%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,736.50p 3.06%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 566.40p 2.39%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,215.00p 1.89%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 369.90p 1.82%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,817.00p 1.81%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 839.00p 1.62%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,545.00p 1.41%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,195.00p 1.40%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,900.50p 1.36%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 198.36p -4.27%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,246.50p -3.11%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,801.60p -2.34%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 689.00p -2.21%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,780.00p -2.13%
BT Group (BT.A) 207.04p -2.10%
Glencore (GLEN) 377.45p -2.09%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,820.00p -1.94%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 954.30p -1.50%
WPP (WPP) 1,278.50p -1.46%