FTSE 100 movers: JD Sports surges; insurers in the red
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.9% at 7,763.30 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
JD Sports Fashion was the standout gainer on the index after saying it expects annual profits to be at the top end of expectations after revenues grew by more than a fifth over the Christmas period.
Current market expectations for the year to January 28 are for group profit before tax and exceptional items of £933m-985m although the final figure will reflect trading through the rest of January with the post-Christmas sale period still to take place in some of the company’s most important European markets.
On the downside, Admiral Group, M&G, Legal & General, Aviva and Phoenix Group all fell after FTSE 250-listed insurer Direct Line said it was scrapping its 2022 final dividend as it took a hit from claims related to severe cold weather and increases in motor inflation.
The company noted the recent cold snap across the UK and said that although it is still relatively early, it expects associated claims to be around £90m across Home and Commercial.
This, together with the freeze event from January 2022 and subsidence related claims over the summer means that it currently expects total weather claims of around £140m for 2022, versus its previous expectations of £73m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 148.70p 5.54%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,500.00p 3.84%
SEGRO (SGRO) 821.00p 3.79%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,189.50p 3.43%
3i Group (III) 1,446.00p 3.36%
Halma (HLMA) 2,157.00p 3.21%
Unite Group (UTG) 954.00p 2.97%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,774.50p 2.96%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,973.00p 2.92%
WPP (WPP) 905.20p 2.79%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,121.00p -6.65%
M&G (MNG) 190.55p -3.05%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 251.70p -2.56%
Aviva (AV.) 446.80p -2.53%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.10p -2.32%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 340.00p -1.62%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 617.60p -1.03%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,035.00p -0.83%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,460.00p -0.82%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 47.75p -0.60%