FTSE 100 movers: Rentokil rallies; Fresnillo goes ex-div

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was flat at 8,275.80 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Pest control firm Rentokil surged as it reported a rise in first-quarter revenue despite a softer performance form its North America business.

In the period from 1 January to the end of March, total revenue rose 1.5% on the year to $1.64bn, with organic revenue up 1.8%, held back by around 30 basis points due to one fewer trading day.

Sainsbury's racked up strong gains as it said full-year underlying pre-tax profit rose 8.6% to £761m but also cautioned it does not expect any profit growth in the next year.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "When Asda fired the opening salvos in a UK supermarket price war in mid-March the markets immediately sat up and took notice and the latest updates from Tesco and now Sainsbury's suggest this was the right call.

"Like Tesco, Sainsbury's wants to equip itself to protect its competitive position, hence its guidance for flat profit in the coming year as it looks to offer customers value for money.

"The main winners in a price war would ultimately be shoppers, however, there were enough positive takeaways in the results to provide some cheer. The 'food first' strategy under Simon Roberts is clearly yielding real benefits with a healthy increase in the dividend providing shareholders with real sustenance.

"There is also a chance that Sainsbury's and Tesco are being overly conservative and Asda's big talk doesn't translate into anything meaningful so there is scope for both to surprise on the upside.

"The main disappointment for Sainsbury's continues to be Argos, with its laggard status raising questions about its long-term future as part of the group. If food really does come first then offloading Argos would allow it to focus and potentially invest more in its core proposition."

Tesco also advanced.

On the downside, Fresnillo, Rolls-Royce, Unite Group and BAE Systems all lost ground as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 347.30p 4.20% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 255.00p 2.82% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,210.00p 2.36% Prudential (PRU) 793.00p 2.27% Tesco (TSCO) 353.10p 2.17% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,368.00p 2.06% Land Securities Group (LAND) 575.50p 1.95% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 74.26p 1.67% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 409.40p 1.59% Entain (ENT) 564.40p 1.47%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,027.00p -5.00% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,378.00p -2.48% Anglo American (AAL) 1,993.60p -1.99% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 710.80p -1.85% Unite Group (UTG) 855.50p -1.84% Melrose Industries (MRO) 411.90p -1.79% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,714.00p -1.61% easyJet (EZJ) 467.80p -1.52% Spirax Group (SPX) 5,865.00p -1.51% Admiral Group (ADM) 3,210.00p -1.47%