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FTSE 100 movers: Vodafone and Shell lead fallers, ITV and WPP up on ad report
London's FTSE 100 finished 0.57% lower on Thursday as results from Vodafone and Royal Dutch Shell disappointed.
Vodafone fizzled into the red as it revealed a 3.6% drop in revenue for the third-quarter, which was attributed to the sale of its Dutch unit and tough competition in India, though growth in organic service revenue of 1.1% in the quarter was weaker than the 1.3% rate in the second quarter.
Management however remained confident the group was on track to meet forecasts for annual profit after trading in line with expectations for the third quarter, with chief executive Vittorio Colao pointing to continued strong growth in data usage, 100m 4G customers, and its best ever quarter for customer growth in high speed broadband in Europe.
Shell fell despite its profits more than doubling in the fourth quarter as the oil company gained from higher oil prices and increased efficiency. Earnings for the three months to the end of December jumped 140% to $4.3bn, slightly ahead of analysts' consensus figure of $4.2bn. Profit taking was blamed for the shares' fall on Thursday after a good run since last summer.
Relx was hit by a downgrade from Exane BNP Paribas to 'underperform', while Severn Trent continued its recent fall ahead of its Q3 trading statement next week.
SSE and British Gas owner Centrica were both lower as rival E.ON launched a what it said was the cheapest available tariff offered by any of the larger suppliers.
Hammerson fell after exchanging contracts for the sale of Battery Retail Park in Birmingham for £57.5m, a sale price that represents a net initial yield of 6% and is in line with December 2016 book value.
Risers were led by ITV and WPP after bullish reports on advertising spending. The Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report, out a day earlier, was optimistic on UK advertising, seeing the rising trend from last year set to extend deep into 2018 and beyond.
Packaging group Smurfit Kappa was up on the back of the latest edition of sector must-read Paper Packaging Monitor Europe, which calling market conditions exceptionally tight in Europe and North America, with containerboard sold out globally, with stocks tight and operating rates high. "We remain positive on the sector as box prices recover and most capacity additions have again been delayed," said Deutsche Bank, reiterating 'buy' ratings on Smurfit and Mondi, which was also up.
3i Group racked up gains thanks to its net asset value per share of 701p for the nine months to the end of December beating analysts' expectations. "We enter the final quarter of our financial year confident that our investment portfolio will deliver another year of strong growth," said CEO Simon Borrows.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,490.39 -0.57%
FTSE 100 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 172.85p 3.50%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,532.00p 2.43%
3i Group (III) 951.40p 2.15%
Evraz (EVR) 379.10p 1.99%
WPP (WPP) 1,304.00p 1.96%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,995.00p 1.73%
Kingfisher (KGF) 351.10p 1.73%
Old Mutual (OML) 236.30p 1.28%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 646.80p 1.03%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 192.45p 0.97%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 214.40p -4.54%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,432.50p -2.54%
Relx plc (REL) 1,520.00p -2.44%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,406.50p -2.27%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,910.50p -2.20%
SSE (SSE) 1,276.50p -2.15%
Centrica (CNA) 130.85p -1.95%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,274.00p -1.92%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,399.00p -1.90%
Hammerson (HMSO) 485.80p -1.46%