FTSE 100 movers: Vodafone rallies; Anglo American slumps as shareholder dumps stake
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 7,540.62 in afternoon trade on Friday, with well-received updates from Vodafone and Pearson lending a hand.
Vodafone rallied after saying it was creating Europe's largest mobile phone tower company with its infrastructure to be legally separated into a new organisation operational by May 2020. It will be made up of 61,700 towers in 10 markets with potential proportionate EBITDA of around €900m. The group also posted a 2.3% dip in first-quarter revenue to €10.7bn (£9.59bn) due to foreign exchange rate effects.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Strategy aside, the quarterly update shows some signs of progress since the recent full-year numbers, which were not well-received.
"While group revenue showed a marginal decline, it was less than had been expected and improving economic conditions in pockets of Europe, such as Germany in particular and indeed the ‘Rest of the World’ generally underpinned performance.
"Meanwhile, even after the previously announced dividend cut, the shares remain on a projected yield of over 6%, meaning that investors are being paid to wait while Vodafone sets out its strategic stall."
Education publisher Pearson rose as it bumped up its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings per share, saying that it was beginning to benefit from accelerating its shift to digital.
Property website Rightmove was in the green as it reported a jump in first-half profit and announced the acquisition of Van Mildert - a company that provides tenant referencing services and rent guarantee insurance products - for up to £20m.
On the downside, Anglo American lost ground as it emerged that Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal was selling his 20% stake in the company, having been the miner’s biggest shareholder for two years.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 145.34p 10.11%
Pearson (PSON) 922.20p 5.35%
Relx plc (REL) 1,926.50p 3.16%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,943.00p 2.42%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,237.50p 2.32%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,294.00p 2.27%
Diageo (DGE) 3,312.50p 2.22%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,718.60p 1.82%
Rightmove (RMV) 520.40p 1.72%
DCC (DCC) 6,940.00p 1.67%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,107.50p -3.64%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 936.20p -2.48%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 437.00p -1.73%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,624.00p -1.58%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 193.05p -1.56%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,472.00p -1.40%
Tesco (TSCO) 223.80p -1.37%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 56.01p -1.34%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 199.00p -1.04%
Glencore (GLEN) 273.25p -0.92%