London open: Stocks flat but Smith & Nephew surges after results
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 25 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Tuesday following a downbeat session in Asia and a mostly weaker session on Wall Street, but Smith & Nephew surged on well-received results.
At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 8,661.75.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said investors were digesting "a mix of global trade tensions and domestic economic signals".
He pointed to "unease over looming US tariff policies and their potential ripple effects on global growth and inflation".
In corporate news, consumer goods giant Unilever slumped as it announced that its chief executive was leaving "by mutual agreement" after just 19 months at the helm.
Hein Schumacher, who became CEO in July 2023 after serving as a board member for one year, is to step down on 1 March and will exit the firm on 31 May. He will be replaced by Fernando Fernandez, who has been the company's chief financial officer since January 2024.
Britzman said: "Unilever's CEO is stepping down in a surprise twist, cutting short his tenure just as he was steering the consumer goods giant toward a leaner, more profitable future. In his place, the company's CFO Fernando Fernandez - a seasoned Unilever veteran - is taking the helm.
"Markets typically flinch at abrupt leadership shifts but his deep experience, and a clear mandate to push change with urgency, signal a bold move to accelerate the final stretch of Unilever's turnaround.
"With Fernandez poised to build on the groundwork already laid, this unexpected transition might be the spark that helps deliver a new version of Unilever that investors have long been waiting for."
Online trading platform CMC Markets tumbled as it said that chief financial officer Albert Soleiman has agreed to step down with immediate effect. CMC said Soleiman will remain with the company for a period of time to support an orderly handover.
On the upside, medical equipment maker Smith & Nephew surged as it posted a sharp jump in full-year profit and revenue, driven by a rebound in its US knee and hip implant unit, which offset continuing headwinds in China.
Revenue jumped 4.7% to $5.8bn, while operating profit surged 54.6% to $657m. The results follow a profit warning after a third-quarter trading update and pressure from shareholders to break up the group.
Specialty chemicals group Croda also gained as it met its profit guidance in 2024, though numbers were weighed down by a drop in annual sales and weaker margins, with the company targeting £25m of cost savings in 2025.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,661.75 0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,513.86 0.14%
techMARK (TASX) 4,733.80 0.43%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,136.50p 8.91%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,319.00p 3.62%
Unite Group (UTG) 871.50p 1.81%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,325.50p 1.57%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 891.30p 1.55%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 142.10p 1.07%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,189.00p 1.06%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 248.80p 0.89%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 447.60p 0.88%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,874.00p 0.87%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Unilever (ULVR) 4,341.00p -3.17%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,896.00p -2.22%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,359.50p -1.63%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,747.00p -1.27%
Fresnillo (FRES) 748.50p -1.25%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,791.00p -0.93%
Glencore (GLEN) 315.25p -0.85%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,893.00p -0.81%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,065.50p -0.79%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,203.50p -0.62%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 39.78p 6.59%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 5,660.00p 6.59%
Mitie Group (MTO) 122.80p 4.78%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 270.50p 4.04%
Energean (ENOG) 1,025.00p 2.91%
Kier Group (KIE) 158.20p 2.59%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 308.50p 2.32%
Bodycote (BOY) 671.00p 2.13%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 338.00p 1.50%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,002.00p 1.47%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
CMC Markets (CMCX) 196.00p -7.33%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 63.50p -4.30%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 82.50p -2.94%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,910.00p -2.75%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 112.90p -2.00%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 280.30p -1.58%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,652.00p -1.31%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 182.20p -1.30%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 110.00p -1.26%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 616.50p -1.20%
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