FTSE 100 movers: Just Eat rallies on Q1 numbers; Morrisons hit by downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,525.00 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, underpinned by a weaker pound following the release of disappointing manufacturing data.
Online takeaway food specialist Just Eat was the standout gainer as it said revenues rose 49% in the first quarter, fuelled by the recent acquisition of HungryHouse as it looks to outrun competition from Deliveroo and UberEats.
The group, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 in December, processed 51.6m curry, pizza, sushi and kebab orders in the first three months of the year, 32% higher than at this time last year.
Severn Trent and United Utilities were on the front foot as Credit Suisse upped both stocks to 'outperform', saying the tide is turning for UK water utilities.
Packaging company DS Smith was in the black as it said business continued to perform in line with its expectations in the year to 30 April. The company said volume growth remained "strong", with its focus on sustainable solutions and the accelerating e-commerce sector. That, and continued growth in multinational customers, had resulted in further gains in the company’s market share.
On the downside, Morrisons was the worst performer after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded its stance on the supermarket chain to 'neutral' due to competition concerns, as it reinstated coverage of Sainsbury's with a 'buy' rating following news of it tie-up plans with Asda.
British American Tobacco was also in the red as Piper Jaffray cut its rating on the stock to 'neutral' from 'overweight'.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Just Eat (JE.) 810.20p 4.70%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,174.00p 2.98%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 314.50p 2.44%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,987.00p 2.42%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,627.50p 2.36%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 686.80p 2.35%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 645.04p 2.35%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 534.59p 2.33%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 760.40p 2.31%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,497.00p 2.17%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 236.60p -2.67%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,906.00p -2.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,254.50p -1.61%
Kingfisher (KGF) 299.50p -1.42%
BT Group (BT.A) 246.50p -1.18%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 284.61p -1.07%
Carnival (CCL) 4,687.00p -0.80%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,533.40p -0.69%
Barclays (BARC) 205.98p -0.61%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,669.00p -0.58%