FTSE 100 movers: Admiral surges after results, Avast falls
London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.5% at 6,246.07 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Insurer Admiral surged as it reinstated its special dividend and reported a better-than-expected jump in first-half profit after motor claims fell as drivers stayed home during the coronavirus lockdown. In the six months to 30 June, statutory pre-tax profit rose 31% to £286.1m - well above consensus forecasts of £233m - while group net revenue was up 6% to £0.69bn.
Just Eat Takeaway rallied after it said first-half earnings and revenue grew as it benefited from lockdowns. In the first six months of 2020, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 133% to €177m, driven mainly by gross margin growth, with revenue up 44% to €1bn.
The group said it processed 257m orders during the half, up 32% from the same period a year ago, driven by "strong accelerated order growth" in the second quarter compared with the first.
On the downside, Avast was weaker even as the cybersecurity firm said full-year organic revenue should be at the upper end of forecasts as it reported a strong first half driven by more people working from home during lockdown.
Spirax-Sarco lost ground as it said organic revenue growth in the second half of the year will be lower than it anticipated in May.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,699.00p 6.81%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,072.00p 4.54%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 358.75p 3.68%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,540.00p 3.12%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 515.00p 3.08%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 916.20p 2.94%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 120.95p 2.81%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,206.40p 2.78%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 440.80p 2.76%
ITV (ITV) 67.44p 2.74%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Avast (AVST) 565.00p -5.83%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 577.00p -1.81%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,510.00p -1.41%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,134.00p -0.84%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,508.00p -0.81%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,019.50p -0.54%
British Land Company (BLND) 378.30p -0.53%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 720.60p -0.50%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,110.00p -0.40%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 238.70p -0.21%