FTSE 100 movers: Admiral drops again; Melrose rallies on update

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,732.09 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Admiral was under the cosh again, having fallen on Tuesday after fellow insurer Direct Line warned that rising claims in its motor segment will put pressure on earnings this year.

Melrose Industries rallied as it said it was trading "materially ahead" of expectations, with significant growth in revenue, profit and margin, and issued new guidance for the full year.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce was higher ahead of a trading update on Thursday.

Caterer Compass Group gained as it lifted its full-year guidance and posted a jump in first-half revenue and operating profit.

In the six months to the end of March, underlying operating profit rose 41.1% to £1.05bn and revenue was up 24.7% to £15.8bn. The operating margin improved by 80 basis points to 6.6% and earnings per share rose to 42.7p from 29.9p.

The interim dividend per share was lifted 59.6% to 15p. Compass hailed "balanced" growth across all regions and "excellent" net new business of 5.2%.

It lifted its full-year guidance for operating profit growth to "towards" 30%, from "above" 20%, and for organic revenue growth to around 18% from around 15%. It also said it now expects the operating margin to be between 6.7% and 6.8%, up from previous guidance of 6.5%.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 445.00p +4.85%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 154.85p +2.11%

Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,711.00p +1.82%

Glencore (GLEN) 454.30p +1.82%

Compass Group (CPG) 2,102.00p +1.79%

RS Group (RS1) 876.20p +1.62%

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,938.50p +1.52%

DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,775.00p +1.29%

Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 16,020.00p +1.26%

Shell (SHEL) 2,406.00p +1.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Admiral Group (ADM) 2,156.00p -2.97%

Pearson (PSON) 805.80p -2.52%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 464.40p -2.23%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,280.00p -2.03%

Tesco (TSCO) 279.20p -1.90%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 633.00p -1.80%

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 479.20p -1.72%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.10p -1.55%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,422.00p -1.27%

Rightmove (RMV) 559.20p -1.24%