FTSE 100 movers: Lloyds rallies after results; BP goes ex-div
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 20 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 8,662.37 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Lloyds Bank gained even as it said annual profit fell 20.4%, worse than expected, and set aside an extra £700m to cover potential claims against motor finance commission deals.
Pre-tax profit came in at £5.97bn, compared to £7.5bn a year earlier and consensus estimates of £6.39bn.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The more positive response to Lloyds' full-year numbers compared with its immediate peer group is less a reflection of the results themselves and more related to the fact it had lagged behind its rivals heading into this earnings season.
"A significant increase in provisions associated with motor finance mis-selling is unlikely to have caught investors on the hop. However, the fact the government's attempt to intervene on lenders' behalf was rejected by the Supreme Court is obviously unhelpful and the increased provision meant profit came in below forecasts.
"This issue remains a lingering uncertainty for the business ahead of the latest hearing in early April but the decision to sanction a sizeable share buyback and deliver a healthy increase in the dividend suggests management are not overly concerned.
"The short- and medium-term outlook for returns is in line with previous commentary from the company and the key net interest margin was a smidge ahead of previous guidance. Lloyds will be hoping for a Goldilocks scenario where rates stay high enough to support margins and the economy remains in decent enough shape that the level of bad debts doesn't start to escalate from here."
British Gas owner Centrica jumped as it hiked its dividend and announced a £500m share buyback after full-year earnings beat forecasts.
Anglo American was higher despite posting a full-year loss of $3.1bn after a large impairment related to its De Beers diamond operation as it continued restructuring plans to focus on copper and iron ore.
The loss attributable to shareholders compared to a profit of $283m in 2023, while the dividend was cut to 64 cents a share, from 96 cents.
BP, Land Securities, easyJet and Imperial Brands all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.66p 6.08%
Centrica (CNA) 144.05p 6.00%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,469.50p 4.20%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 332.70p 1.84%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,288.00p 1.17%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,152.50p 1.10%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 81.84p 0.89%
Prudential (PRU) 711.00p 0.85%
3i Group (III) 4,132.00p 0.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 330.15p 0.72%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,299.50p -3.38%
BP (BP.) 451.70p -2.50%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 567.50p -2.49%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 406.00p -2.43%
easyJet (EZJ) 486.70p -2.13%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,724.00p -1.94%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 632.20p -1.62%
Tesco (TSCO) 374.80p -1.60%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,334.00p -1.52%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 241.00p -1.47%
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