FTSE 100 movers: Ashtead gains on acquisition; Royal Mail gives back gains

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.6% to 7,434.96 in afternoon trade.

Rental equipment firm Ashtead was on the front foot after saying its North American business, Sunbelt Rentals, has agreed to buy Canadian rental equipment provider CRS Contractors Rental Supply for an initial cash consideration of CAD275m.

The deal, which also includes an additional earn-out of up to CAD20m dependent on future performance, is expected to complete in the next few weeks.

Reckitt Benckiser gained ground as it agreed to sell its food business for $4.2bn to Schwartz spices owner McCormick. Reckitt intends to use the net proceeds to reduce net debt, which at the end of December was £1.39bn.

On the downside, Royal Mail gave back some of the gains made on Tuesday, when it reported a solid first quarter.

Airlines IAG and easyJet got a boost after peer Wizz Air reported a 15.6% jump in first-quarter pre-tax profit as revenue rose, in part thanks to a strong performance over Easter. In the three months to the end of June, revenue increased 28.6% to €469.3m while pre-tax profit grew to €60.5m.

Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,199.00p 2.65%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 610.00p 2.52%
Sage Group (SGE) 686.50p 2.16%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,217.00p 1.98%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 185.00p 1.65%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 408.70p 1.59%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,655.00p 1.47%
Old Mutual (OML) 198.00p 1.43%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,420.00p 1.42%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,923.00p 1.42%

Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 729.00p -2.15%
Royal Mail (RMG) 403.10p -1.95%
Kingfisher (KGF) 296.80p -1.72%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 611.00p -1.61%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,675.00p -1.22%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,317.00p -0.98%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 375.10p -0.92%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,402.00p -0.78%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,945.00p -0.71%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 249.20p -0.68%