London open: FTSE gains as NatWest rallies after results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Friday following mixed sessions in the US and Asia, with NatWest pacing the gains after well-received results. At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 8,223.09.

NatWest surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it lifted its full-year guidance for total income to around £14bn from between £13bn and £13.5bn previously. The bank also said that return on tangible equity was set be above 14%, up from previous guidance of 12%.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Overall, this is a highly reassuring update which has received a very warm welcome in opening exchanges. The share price bounce adds to an increase of 35% over the last year, as compared to a gain of 6.6% for the wider FTSE 100, and is further evidence of the momentum which propelled the price by 55% in the last six months alone.

"NatWest has delivered an outcome which could mean that it regains its spot as the preferred play on the sector, recently being edged out by Barclays, with a market consensus which comes in at a comfortable buy."

Elsewhere, Drax rallied after saying that full-year adjusted EBITDA was set to be at the "top end" of analysts' consensus estimates of £881m to £996m following a strong performance in the first half.

Jupiter Fund Management and Man Group were both higher after results.

Babcock International gained after it posted a jump in full-year profit as it continued to be boosted by a "sustained uplift" in global defence budgets, with a strong performance in Nuclear, Land and Aviation.

On the downside, FirstGroup, Computacenter and Rightmove all fell after results, while Lloyds Banking Group was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'sector perform' from 'outperform' at RBC Capital Markets.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,223.09 0.45% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,955.57 0.34% techMARK (TASX) 4,761.54 0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 360.70p 6.68% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,486.00p 2.44% Airtel Africa (AAF) 109.00p 1.96% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,904.00p 1.95% Anglo American (AAL) 2,297.00p 1.41% Burberry Group (BRBY) 726.60p 1.31% Rightmove (RMV) 575.40p 1.30% Entain (ENT) 648.20p 1.28% Barclays (BARC) 230.65p 1.21% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,205.00p 1.16%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 455.70p -2.42% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 7,912.00p -1.05% SEGRO (SGRO) 898.80p -0.93% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 60.08p -0.92% Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,134.00p -0.84% Mondi (MNDI) 1,539.00p -0.65% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,796.00p -0.63% Fresnillo (FRES) 579.00p -0.52% Halma (HLMA) 2,516.00p -0.47% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 507.40p -0.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 647.50p 14.30% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 89.30p 8.24% Indivior (INDV) 989.50p 2.91% International Workplace Group (IWG) 172.50p 2.50% Babcock International Group (BAB) 499.60p 2.42% Man Group (EMG) 256.40p 2.23% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 172.60p 2.13% Ocado Group (OCDO) 434.00p 2.00% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 734.00p 1.94% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 82.10p 1.86%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

FirstGroup (FGP) 165.60p -2.87% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 61.60p -2.22% Computacenter (CCC) 2,598.00p -2.11% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 312.00p -1.58% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 363.50p -1.49% 3i Infrastructure (3IN) 335.00p -1.47% Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 385.00p -1.41% Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 147.60p -1.20% ITV (ITV) 80.15p -1.11% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 258.80p -0.99%