FTSE 100 movers: NMC Health rallies; Whitbread hit by downgrade
London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,439.78 in afternoon trade on Monday amid ongoing concerns about the coronavirus.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread was in the red after a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs.
More broadly, travel and tourism stocks were under the cosh, with airline easyJet and cruise operator Carnival both lower amid worries about the impact of the coronavirus.
Luxury brand Burberry - which has a large exposure to China - also lost ground.
On the upside, NMC Health was the standout gainer after confirming it had received "highly preliminary" approaches from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and GK Investment to buy the company as its founder and a major shareholder were forced to step back from the board after their shareholdings had been reported incorrectly to the market.
The Middle East private healthcare hospital operator said no proposal has been made by either company and "there have been no discussions as to the terms of any possible offer".
"There can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made," NMC said.
It also said its founder and chairman, the Indian billionaire BR Shetty, is conducting a legal review into potential historical inaccuracies relating to his own stake in the firm and those of three other major shareholders.
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC) 739.20p 5.60%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 820.80p 2.68%
Next (NXT) 6,888.00p 1.83%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 321.50p 1.39%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,080.00p 1.22%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,289.50p 1.10%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,970.00p 1.09%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 951.00p 1.08%
British Land Company (BLND) 565.20p 1.07%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,621.00p 1.03%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,862.50p -2.59%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,528.00p -1.97%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,482.00p -1.89%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,644.40p -1.74%
Glencore (GLEN) 229.55p -1.57%
Informa (INF) 789.20p -1.45%
Carnival (CCL) 3,072.00p -1.35%
Centrica (CNA) 84.02p -1.32%
Aveva Group (AVV) 5,145.00p -1.25%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,990.50p -1.22%