FTSE 100 movers: Lloyds gains on FCA announcement; Bunzl drops

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.9% at 9,569.19 in afternoon trade on Wednesday. Lloyds was among the top gainers after the Financial Conduct Authority's motor finance redress scheme came in lower than expected.

The FCA said late on Tuesday that it expects payouts on 14m finance agreements where there were "widespread failings" in how lenders disclosed commission payments to brokers, to start next year, with customers receiving around an average £700 in compensation per agreement.

Lloyds said it was "assessing the implications" of the announcement, which will see lenders pay up to £11bn compensation for unfair practices.

The bank said it was looking at "the impact of this consultation in the context of its current provision for this issue and will update the market as and when appropriate".

NatWest was also in the black.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The motor finance scandal is proving to be less dramatic than thought. Lloyds' shares jumped after the regulator proposed that motorists would get £700 on average in compensation, lower than the previous indicated amount of £950.

"Lloyds has already taken a £1.2 billion provision to cover the cost, which now looks like a reasonable assumption. The fact its share price jumped means the market is comfortable with the outcome and that a big uncertainty factor will soon be removed.

"Lloyds' management will be keen to shift the market's focus to the bank's growth opportunities in the future, not what it has done in the past."

Mining stocks rose as gold prices surged to new highs. Antofagasta, which mines copper and gold, was the top riser, while Anglo American was also sharply higher.

The latter got an extra boost after Berenberg upgraded the shares to 'buy' from 'hold' and hiked the price target to 3,000p from 2,300p. It said the "transformational" and value-creative M&A deal with Teck Resources will result in Anglo shares continuing to outperform, but that they also offer iron ore exposure.

On the downside, Bunzl fell after the international distribution and services group announced two acquisitions, one in Ireland and the other in Spain,

In September, Bunzl completed the acquisition of Caterline, a distributor of commercial catering equipment in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In the same month, it also bought Anta, a regional distributor of cleaning and hygiene products in the northwest of Spain.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,764.00p 3.13% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 85.64p 2.81% Anglo American (AAL) 2,886.00p 2.74% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 388.20p 2.48% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,477.00p 2.32% Haleon (HLN) 337.70p 2.24% Mondi (MNDI) 855.60p 2.20% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,760.00p 2.13% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 549.40p 2.01% The Sage Group (SGE) 1,127.00p 1.99%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

ICG (ICG) 2,176.00p -4.23% Spirax Group (SPX) 6,930.00p -2.67% SEGRO (SGRO) 651.80p -2.40% Croda International (CRDA) 2,824.00p -1.67% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,424.00p -1.46% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 180.90p -1.20% Land Securities Group (LAND) 588.50p -1.01% Admiral Group (ADM) 3,294.00p -0.60% Rightmove (RMV) 695.00p -0.60% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,329.00p -0.60%