FTSE 100 movers: Kingfisher rallies on results; insurers retreat
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 22 Sep 2020
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 5,846.40 in afternoon trade on Tuesday following heavy losses in the previous session.
B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher was a high riser after it posted a 23.1% jump in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit thanks to a strong sales recovery in the second quarter.
British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands gained after an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' at RBC Capital Markets.
On the downside, Hikma Pharmaceuticals slumped as it cut 2020 guidance for its generics business following another delay in approval for the asthma drug candidate it is developing with Vectura.
Hotel and restaurant chain Whitbread lost ground as it said it was cutting 6,000 jobs after suffering a slump in trading due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Premier Inn owner announced the 18% cut in its workforce as like-for-like sales plunged by more than 77% as it felt the full force of the lockdown from March to June.
Insurers Admiral and RSA were weaker after Beazley said Covid-19 claims were set to double from the $170m expected in April, mainly due to event cancellation losses. The sector was also hit after the Financial Conduct Authority said it was consulting on a "radical" package that would mean loyal customers would not pay more for home or motor insurance than new customers.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 287.30p 8.54%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,730.00p 4.00%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,389.00p 3.58%
BP (BP.) 244.25p 3.47%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,416.00p 3.32%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 997.30p 3.29%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 96.34p 3.24%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,036.60p 3.16%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 349.20p 3.16%
Pearson (PSON) 495.30p 2.33%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,435.00p -5.84%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,045.00p -3.03%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 11,565.00p -2.53%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,714.00p -2.20%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 461.50p -2.16%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 95.34p -1.91%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,264.00p -1.71%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,280.00p -1.60%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 158.40p -1.43%
Informa (INF) 362.40p -1.41%
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