London midday: FTSE falls further after disappointing GDP; ex-divs weigh
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 13 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had fallen further by midday on Thursday, dragged lower by 3i Group, Aviva and a host of ex-dividend names, as investors mulled disappointing UK GDP data.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 9,861.44.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 was held back in its latest attempt to make the 10,000 summit by some shares trading ex-dividend and some poorly received corporate updates.
"This outweighed the tailwind provided by a weaker pound, which flatters the overseas earnings which dominate the index, and saw the FTSE 100 dip slightly in early trading on Thursday. Sterling fell thanks to weaker than expected UK growth figures for September.
"An end to the government shutdown in the US was followed by gains for gold and silver which, in turn, boosted precious metals miners in London."
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the economy unexpectedly shrank in September.
GDP declined by 0.1% on the month following no growth in August - this was revised down from 0.1% growth - and an unrevised fall of 0.1% in July. Economists had been expecting GDP to be unchanged in September.
Production fell by 2.0%, while services grew by 0.2% and construction rose 0.2%. The drop in production was attributed largely to a fall in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which slumped 28.6%.
This was due partly to the fact that production at Jaguar Land Rover was halted following a cyber attack.
In the three months to September, GDP grew 0.1%, following 0.2% growth in the previous quarter, which was revised down from 0.3%. Economists were expecting 0.3% growth.
ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said: "Growth slowed further in the third quarter of the year with both services and construction weaker than in the previous period. There was also a further contraction in production.
"Across the quarter as a whole manufacturing drove the weakness in production. There was a particularly marked fall in car production in September, reflecting the impact of a cyber incident, as well as a decline in the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry.
"Services were the main contributor to growth in the latest quarter, with business rental and leasing, live events and retail performing well, partially offset by falls in R&D [research and development] and hair and beauty salons."
In equity markets, Convatec surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it hailed strong sales growth in the 10 months to October end and said it was on track to deliver FY25 and medium-term financial targets.
Burberry rallied as it reported an increase in quarterly comparable store sales for the first time in two years, and said it swung to an adjusted operating profit of £19m in the first half to 27 September, compared with a loss of £41m the year before.
Persimmon gained as the housebuilder reiterated is full-year outlook despite "challenging" market conditions, after a jump in sales and prices.
Precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Endeavour and Hochschild all shone as gold prices rose.
Wizz Air flew higher after it posted a jump in first-half operating profit.
On the downside, 3i Group tumbled even as the private equity and infrastructure investment firm said it had delivered a strong investment performance over the first half to 30 September, helped by solid gains from long-term hold asset, Action.
Russ Mould said: "The fortunes of private equity investor 3i are heavily tied to Action, with the company continuing to increase its stake in the Dutch discount retail chain.
"This has largely been a good news story for the group as Action has achieved significant growth in recent years.
"However, today's numbers were a little short of expectations. The company warning of an uncertain backdrop will raise concerns about the outlook for Action and its wider portfolio."
Aviva slid, pulling back after a surge so far this year, as new medium-term profit and return targets underwhelmed investors, despite the company delivering on financial targets a year earlier than planned.
Barratt Redrow lost ground as it said chief financial officer Mike Scott had stepped down with immediate effect "by mutual agreement".
B&M European Value Retail dipped as the discount retailer reported a slump in half-year profits and a leadership team reshuffle under new chief executive Tjeerd Jegen, while Rolls-Royce nudged lower as it reiterated full-year guidance despite supply chain pressures.
Sainsbury's, BP, Shell, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Bunzl, Lancashire Holdings, Partners Group, Greencoat, GCP Infrastructure Investments, The Renewables Infrastructure Group, C&C and International Public Partnerships were all in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,861.44 -0.50%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,109.08 -0.12%
techMARK (TASX) 5,629.38 -0.17%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Convatec Group (CTEC) 252.40p 6.68%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,442.00p 4.18%
Spirax Group (SPX) 7,325.00p 3.39%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,286.00p 2.59%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,263.50p 2.47%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 44.45p 1.83%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,378.00p 1.55%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 398.50p 1.53%
Experian (EXPN) 3,365.00p 1.26%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,661.00p 1.16%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
3i Group (III) 3,477.00p -14.55%
Aviva (AV.) 661.40p -4.50%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 327.40p -3.93%
WPP (WPP) 287.00p -3.92%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 92.68p -2.32%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,690.00p -2.25%
SSE (SSE) 2,261.00p -1.99%
BP (BP.) 459.65p -1.75%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,166.00p -1.62%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 387.30p -1.50%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,124.00p 10.85%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,524.00p 9.65%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 393.60p 6.26%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,566.00p 5.38%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 458.60p 3.80%
Investec (INVP) 602.00p 2.91%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 222.80p 2.63%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 394.00p 2.50%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 700.00p 2.04%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 222.20p 2.02%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 599.00p -8.41%
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,890.00p -4.45%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 910.60p -4.35%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 99.90p -3.94%
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 71.60p -3.50%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 71.10p -3.13%
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 63.90p -3.03%
Partners Group Private Equity Limited. (EUR) (PEY) 10.50p -2.78%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 135.60p -2.73%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 121.40p -2.57%
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