FTSE 100 movers: Exane boosts StanChart, sees buy-backs at Glencore

Analysts at Exane BNP Paribas have hiked their price target on shares of Standard Chartered to 940p from 875p but write that that the chances of a dividend cut are now greater than 50%. On the plus side of things, the broker adds that the lender can now probably avoid a capital increase.

On the subject of Glencore, Exane writes today that "provided base metal prices start to reflect fundamentals, the group could have room to consider resuming its buyback programme next summer."

WPP,the world’s biggest advertising company, rose after beating expectations with a record £1.5bn annual profit in 2014, up 12% on the previous year. Revenues were up nearly 5% at £11.6bn, though currency movements weighed on growth.

Reckitt Benckiser was boosted by an upgrade from analysts at Jeffries, who moved their rating form ‘hold’ to ‘buy’. “With plenty of margin tailwinds in FY15, consensus seems curiously muted. We are more bullish, and move to an-ahead-of-consensus view,” said the Broker.

Glencore was trading higher on the back of strong export data from top metals consumer China.

Meanwhile, RSA Insurance was in the red after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘sell’. The bank said RSA’s full year 2014 results confirmed that despite making progress on restructuring and its balance sheet clean-up, headwinds to operating earnings have worsened materially.

Real estate investment trusts such as Land Securities, British Land and Intu Properties were among the worst performers.

A spokesperson for Spectrum Value Management, which represents Thomas Schmidheiny, the largest shareholder of Swiss cement group Holcim, has told Bloomberg that the industrial logic of a tie-up between Holcim and Lafarge remains intact. A report over the weekend had cited Schmidheiny as looking for better terms. The news may be weighing on shares of CRH who is set to pick up assets with an enterprise value of €6.5bn from from its two rivals if the merger goes through.

Morrisons' new Chairman plans to cut the dividend and rein in the opening of convenience stores to fund a revival of the group's supermarkets, the Sunday Telegraph reported. When Morrisons reports annual results on March 12th, Andy Higginson is expected to say the dividend could fall by as much as 60% over the next year. Morrisons' profit will have halved from a year earlier because of pressure on the industry and the war on prices between grocers. Higginson will also pull back on the commitment to open 100 convenience stores this year.

Risers
WPP (WPP) 1,564.00p +1.49%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 283.60p +1.07%
Centrica (CNA) 244.20p +0.91%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 207.70p +0.83%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,188.00p +0.76%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 994.50p +0.76%
Glencore (GLEN) 291.65p +0.74%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,691.00p +0.65%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,450.00p +0.62%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,835.00p +0.60%

Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 341.90p -3.20%
CRH (CRH) 1,740.00p -3.17%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,240.00p -1.98%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 369.10p -1.86%
British Land Co (BLND) 824.00p -1.85%
BG Group (BG.) 915.00p -1.73%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,100.00p -1.61%
Intu Properties (INTU) 342.50p -1.58%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 411.50p -1.56%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,573.00p -1.56%