FTSE 100 movers: Rolls-Royce retreats again; Ocado rallies
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 29 May 2020
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 1.8% at 6,106.84 in afternoon trade on Friday amid growing tensions between the US and China.
Rolls-Royce was the worst performer after Standard & Poor's downgraded its long and short-term credit ratings to BB and B, respectively, with a negative outlook.
Cruise operator Carnival, British Airways parent IAG and easyJet were all lower. According to a report, British Airways is considering closing its operation at Heathrow airport's terminal 3 and shrinking its activity at terminal 5.
Ocado was the standout gainer following an upbeat note from Berenberg, which hosted a "virtual fireside chat" with the company's chief executive and founder Tim Steiner on Thursday, with more than 300 investors in attendance.
"The CEO was very confident about the company's capacity to sign more deals following the Covid-19-driven surge in online grocery demand, while a new robot manufacturing deal could increase the value of each deal," it said.
"A key pushback from investors has concerned Ocado's capacity to take on new deals. The CEO reassured investors who took part in our fireside chat that Ocado has the physical capability to take on new deals and accelerate existing deals in the event of increased demand from grocers internationally.
"With demand for their robots increasing, the group is now partnering with larger manufacturers (companies that manufacture for GE and HP); this will not only improve Ocado's ability to accelerate its international expansion, but we believe that Ocado will benefit from scale efficiencies of these manufacturers, that it can reduce the capex requirement and therefore increase the present value of each facility."
AstraZeneca rallied as the pharmaceuticals giant said a clinical trial of its Tagrisso drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by approximately 80%.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,195.00p 4.42%
British Land Company (BLND) 409.50p 3.10%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 562.20p 2.89%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,647.00p 2.80%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,900.00p 2.32%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 502.80p 1.72%
Halma (HLMA) 2,364.00p 1.63%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,844.00p 1.59%
CRH (CRH) 2,675.00p 1.13%
DCC (DCC) 6,760.00p 1.05%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 283.20p -11.22%
Carnival (CCL) 1,075.50p -9.16%
Centrica (CNA) 36.28p -7.09%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 117.05p -6.99%
M&G (MNG) 140.00p -6.67%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 230.60p -6.41%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 145.25p -6.14%
easyJet (EZJ) 695.00p -6.08%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,206.50p -5.71%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 502.00p -5.64%
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