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.
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 10,611.15 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Associated British Foods slumped after saying it expects full-year like-for-like sales at its soon-to-be-demerged Primark division to fall by 2.6% amid a tough consumer environment, adding that it also planned to introduce home delivery in the UK at the clothing retailer.
Heavily-weighted miners were among the worst performers, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto all down, while M&G fell as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.
On the upside, BP and Shell gushed higher as Brent crude breached $105 a barrel.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread rose following an upbeat note by Citi. The bank said it's 4.2% ahead of Visible Alpha consensus on adjusted pre-tax profit for H1 FY27, driven by slightly higher revenue and net UK/Germany cost phasing.
"H1 consensus profit before tax estimates have increased slightly over the past month alongside better RevPAR data, but we see further upside potential," Citi said. "We note Premier Inn UK has retained its RevPAR premium and slightly outgrows peer Travelodge despite the latter's room refurbishment programme. We think valuation is attractive, with Whitbread's FY2 P/E having moved to a 0.4ppt discount to the FTSE 250 (historically 1ppt premium) and the stock has also lagged inflation-adjusted UK RevPAR growth since the Iran conflict.
"Against these positives, the return of hotels previously used for asylum-seeker accommodation to public use could accelerate UK supply growth in H2 and is a factor to watch."
FTSE 100 - Risers
BP (BP.) 571.20p 2.69%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,880.00p 1.90%
Shell (SHEL) 3,572.50p 1.90%
Compass Group 11 (CPG) 31.01p 1.64%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,471.00p 1.31%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,347.00p 1.16%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,069.00p 1.14%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,036.50p 1.02%
ICG (ICG) 1,932.00p 0.94%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 127.85p 0.87%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,806.50p -10.54%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,749.00p -6.43%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,923.00p -6.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 603.00p -3.79%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,948.00p -3.67%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,345.00p -3.64%
Weir (WEIR) 2,690.00p -3.37%
M&G (MNG) 333.80p -3.28%
Halma (HLMA) 3,600.00p -2.44%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 470.20p -2.22%
