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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

FTSE 100 movers: Beazley bounces on capital return; WPP slumps

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,680.85 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Beazley rallied as it upgraded its guidance on the undiscounted combined ratio from low-80s to mid-70s for 2023 thanks to a better-than-expected claims experience during the year. It also said that as well as an ordinary dividend, shareholders will receive an additional capital return for the year of around $300m.

Rolls-Royce jumped as it reported a more than doubling of its full-year profits, underpinned by its civil aerospace segment. Full-year 2023 underlying operating profit came in at £1.6bn, up from £652m a year earlier, with revenues rising to £15.4bn from £12.7bn. Analysts were expecting operating profit of £1.4bn.

Lloyds Bank gained as it reported a 57% jump in full-year profits and announced another £2bn share buyback, but also set aside £450m for the regulatory probe into UK motor financing.

Hikma was on the front foot as it bumped up its dividend by almost a third following double-digit growth in full-year core revenues and profits in 2023.

Anglo American rose despite slashing its annual dividend by a half after seeing profits plunge in 2023 on the back of impairments and downturns in the platinum and diamond markets.

WPP slumped even as the advertising giant's full-year results came in as expected.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Beazley (BEZ) 637.00p 9.45% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 360.60p 9.44% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.06p 6.40% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,125.00p 6.38% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 792.40p 3.91% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,629.00p 3.37% Rightmove (RMV) 550.40p 3.30% Anglo American (AAL) 1,774.40p 3.29% Entain (ENT) 921.40p 2.51% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,512.00p 2.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

WPP (WPP) 739.40p -5.25% Tesco (TSCO) 277.20p -2.91% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,277.00p -2.67% Land Securities Group (LAND) 631.80p -2.17% SSE (SSE) 1,575.50p -2.11% Glencore (GLEN) 379.75p -1.63% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 255.10p -1.62% Unilever (ULVR) 3,996.00p -1.44% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,740.00p -1.29% AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,974.00p -1.27%

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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