London open: FTSE nudges up as investors mull borrowing figures
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 21 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Thursday following a record close the day earlier, as investors mulled the latest borrowing figures.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 9,300.01.
Data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that government borrowing was lower than expected in July.
Borrowing came in at £1.1bn, down £2.3bn on July 2024 and marking the lowest July figure for three years following tax rises in April. Analysts were expecting £2.6bn and the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast £2.1bn.
Borrowing in the financial year to July rose £6.7bn to £60bn. This was the third-highest April to July borrowing since monthly records began, after those of 2020 and 2021.
Self-assessed income tax receipts were provisionally estimated as £15.5bn, up £2.7bn on the same month a year earlier. In March, the OBR forecast tax receipts of £14.9bn.
Rob Doody, ONS deputy director for public sector finances, said: "Borrowing this July was £2.3bn down on the same month last year, and was the lowest July figure for three years.
"This reflects strong increases in tax and National Insurance receipts.
"However, in the first four months of the financial year as a whole, borrowing was over £6bn higher than in the same period in 2024."
Nabil Taleb, economist at PwC UK, said: "Although tax receipts rose in July, the Chancellor remains under pressure as she tries to balance weak growth with the fiscal rules she has committed to. While the government's manifesto promises to maintain investment and shield working people from tax hikes, analysis from NIESR suggests up to £40bn in additional revenue may be needed to restore headroom and maintain investor confidence in the UK's public finances.
"As the Chancellor prepares for the Autumn Budget, the challenge will be finding creative sources of revenue while treading carefully around the impact on living standards."
In equity markets, Legal & General, Schroders, Mondi, Imperial Brands, Entain and Anglo American all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
WH Smith tanked as it cut its North America profit guidance after uncovering an overstatement of around £30m of expected trading profit.
For the year to the end of August, the group now expects headline trading profit from the North America division to be about £25m, down from previous market expectations of approximately £55m.
Full-year headline profit before tax and non-underlying items will be in the region of £110m, it said.
Recruiter Hays slumped as it more than halved its annual dividend after delivering a big drop in profits, as expected, over the year to 30 June, saying job markets have yet to recover in the new financial year.
Premier Foods nudged lower after announcing the acquisition of convenient meals brand Merchant Gourmet for £48m.
Engineering firm Renishaw shot higher as it said full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be towards the top of its £109m to £127m guidance range and announced the departure of group finance director Allen Roberts after 46 years with the company.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,300.01 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,854.99 -0.14%
techMARK (TASX) 5,395.73 0.62%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,910.00p 1.62%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,753.00p 1.51%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,040.50p 1.41%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 246.60p 0.98%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 987.50p 0.82%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,660.00p 0.79%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 84.00p 0.65%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 587.00p 0.62%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,166.00p 0.56%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,266.00p 0.52%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 254.90p -2.19%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,053.00p -2.14%
Schroders (SDR) 390.80p -1.81%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,128.00p -1.07%
Entain (ENT) 880.00p -0.83%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,126.00p -0.82%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,539.00p -0.74%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,119.00p -0.70%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 363.50p -0.68%
Relx plc (REL) 3,602.00p -0.63%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 3,180.00p 6.89%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 205.50p 4.42%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 124.00p 3.33%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 191.60p 1.91%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 350.50p 1.59%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 228.60p 1.51%
Genus (GNS) 2,705.00p 1.50%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,150.00p 1.50%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 75.40p 1.48%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 240.00p 1.48%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
WH Smith (SMWH) 759.00p -31.62%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 610.00p -3.02%
Hays (HAS) 61.85p -2.60%
Ibstock (IBST) 138.60p -2.39%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 172.60p -2.27%
Me Group International (MEGP) 200.50p -1.96%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,070.00p -1.85%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 363.50p -1.76%
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 149.00p -1.52%
Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) 104.00p -1.42%
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