FTSE 100 movers: Smurfit shoots higher on results; Tui drops again
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.8% to 7,188.88 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with investors buoyed by hopes of an extension to the trade truce between the US and China.
Smurfit Kappa gained as it said it fell to a paper loss last year due to charges from its unwanted exit from Venezuela, but the Irish packaging group's core businesses still delivered a strong improvement in profits and cash flow. Peer DS Smith also advanced.
Rolls-Royce rallied as Credit Suisse upped its stance on the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and hiked the price target to 1,065p from 900p as it said issues with the Trent 1000 engine seem to be on the mend.
CS said the engine, which powers the Boeing 787, has been the key execution impediment to the case but now appears to showing signs of improvement.
"A technical fix for the main issue has been certified at the end of December 2018 and has just started to be installed on grounded engines. Storage data shows that the number of parked aircraft/engines has been reducing steadily for four months now, reducing the pressure on both airlines and Rolls-Royce," it said.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread was among the risers as it outlined its plans for long-term value creation in the UK and internationally. The company said it plans to pursue a tender offer to buy back up to a further £2bn of shares using proceeds from the sale of its Costa coffee chain to Coca-Cola.
In a statement on its capital markets day, the company said its efficiency programme has been extended to a further £220m opex and capex savings over three years, which includes £120m of operating cost savings and £100m of capital cost savings over the next three years.
On the downside, tour operator Tui was getting whacked again a day after its first-quarter results and a week after it issued a profit warning.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 351.10p 4.49%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,360.00p 4.15%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 865.20p 3.20%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 942.60p 3.17%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,893.00p 2.73%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,821.00p 2.66%
Glencore (GLEN) 299.30p 2.61%
WPP (WPP) 839.00p 2.37%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,771.00p 2.32%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,669.00p 2.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 833.80p -5.98%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 917.20p -3.33%
Tesco (TSCO) 219.80p -1.66%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 236.20p -1.42%
Pearson (PSON) 934.40p -0.81%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 884.60p -0.67%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,459.00p -0.61%
SSE (SSE) 1,186.00p -0.50%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 282.70p -0.42%
Relx plc (REL) 1,720.50p -0.38%