FTSE 100 movers: Barclays gains on Q3; airlines fly lower

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% to 6,975.48 in afternoon trade.

Barclays was the standout gainer after reporting a rise in third-quarter pre-tax profit as it benefited form a strong performance in its fixed trading division.

Pre-tax profit for the third quarter was up 35% from the same period a year ago to £837m as revenue from the fixed income division surged 40% to £947m. Excluding one-off items, profit came in at £1.7bn, surpassing analysts’ expectations of around £1.5bn.

Overall revenue in the third quarter was pretty much flat compared to the third quarter of last year at £5.5bn and the bank said it set aside £600m to compensate customers for mis-sold payment protection insurance.

For the nine months to the end of September, profit was down 10% to £2.9bn due to the disposal of the bank’s non-core businesses.

Information and analytics company Relx Group advanced after saying its outlook remains unchanged and it expects underlying revenue, profit and earnings to increase for the full year.

Underlying revenues grew 4% during the first nine months of the year as the company bought 15 content, data and exhibition assets for about £330m.

Lloyds was on the front foot as the government cut its stake in the bank to just under 9%, or 6.42bn shares from 7.1bn previously.

The government began selling its shares in Lloyds – which was bailed out by taxpayers during the financial crisis – back in 2013.

Earlier this month, UK Financial Investments Limited, which manages the government's stake in e bank, said it would resume selling shares as it looks to return Lloyds to private ownership in the next 12 months.

On the downside, airlines flew lower. International Consolidated Airlines Group slumped after Societe Generale downgraded its stance on the British Airways and Iberia parent to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 420p from 500p.

The bank said that while IAG has built a strong track record over recent years, over-delivering on cost-cutting and synergies, the market overestimates its earnings generation capabilities and the transatlantic market is becoming more competitive. SocGen said it was cutting its earnings forecasts, mainly on the back of ongoing sterling weakness.

In addition, it to “several worrying developments over recent months”, including uncertainty about the prospects for the British economy following the Brexit vote in June.

Peer easyJet also lost ground.

BT Group was under the cosh following the release of its second-quarter results amid concerns about its pension deficit, which grew to £9.5bn from £6.2bn.

Barratt Developments, Wolseley and Provident Financial declined as their shares went ex-dividend.

Risers

Barclays (BARC) 189.90p 4.46%
Relx plc (REL) 1,457.00p 1.96%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 56.94p 1.90%
ITV (ITV) 169.70p 1.37%
Sage Group (SGE) 721.50p 1.19%
Sky (SKY) 810.50p 1.19%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,627.00p 1.18%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,831.50p 1.14%
GKN (GKN) 315.40p 1.09%
Polymetal International (POLY) 886.50p 1.08%

Fallers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 440.30p -7.48%
easyJet (EZJ) 916.50p -2.91%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 411.20p -2.72%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,240.00p -2.60%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,964.00p -2.53%
BT Group (BT.A) 378.65p -2.31%
British Land Company (BLND) 580.00p -2.11%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 985.00p -1.89%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 336.50p -1.69%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 317.00p -1.31%