FTSE 100 movers: RELX hits five-year high, Centrica at five-year low
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 21 Feb 2019
(Sharecast News) - RELX topped the leaderboard for the top flight index on Thursday after the information and analytics group reported continued underlying growth in revenue, operating profits and earnings in its final results, with the former ahead by 4% for a full-year reported total of £7.49bn.
The news sent the company's shares to a fresh 52-week high and saw them close at their best level since at least 2009.
Property outfits British Land and Land Securities were right behind, eking out small gains, as the Chancellor talked up the prospects for a deal and the leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, said the government was still planning to go ahead with a vote in Parliament on either a new Brexit deal or on what the way ahead should be.
In remarks to the BBC, Philip Hammond said there were positive signs coming out of Brussels with the European Union now promising "guarantees" that the Irish backstop would not be permanent.
On a down day for the Footsie, some defensive issues were also to be seen on the bottom rungs of the leaderboard throughout the session.
But not Centrica.
Stock in the energy outfit was walloped as traders found out that its full-year profits had come in at 11.2p a share, falling short of the company's own guidance by 3%.
Centrica also restated its guidance for net debt to a range of £2.7bn-£3.7bn, to reflect the impact of IFRS 16, and said it expected its debt to come in between £3.0bn and £3.5bn this year.
In a research note entitled "FY18: Another miss", analysts at Jefferies said they understood that included the £230m of proceeds from the disposal of Clockwork announced on Thursday, adding that "with this, Centrica's FY19 DPS guidance remains unclear to us, at first glance."
Defence contractor BAE Systems was also under the cosh.
Full year operating profits rose 14.3% per cent to £1.6bn, but the aerospace and defence giant warned that Germany's move to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi could hit its ability to supply Riyadh.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Relx plc (REL) 1,765.50p +4.78%
British Land Company (BLND) 580.80p +1.22%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 879.40p +1.17%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 229.85p +1.14%
Experian (EXPN) 2,038.00p +1.04%
Schroders (SDR) 2,691.00p +1.01%
St James's Place (STJ) 956.40p +0.93%
Informa (INF) 721.40p +0.90%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,585.00p +0.88%
National Grid (NG.) 855.00p +0.86%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Centrica (CNA) 121.15p -11.70%
BAE Systems (BA.) 464.80p -7.85%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,601.00p -4.15%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 336.90p -3.61%
Fresnillo (FRES) 990.40p -3.61%
Glencore (GLEN) 300.50p -3.21%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 623.10p -3.16%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 903.60p -3.11%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 822.60p -2.44%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,538.00p -2.29%
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