FTSE 100 movers: EasyJet flies higher but Wood Group dented by downgrade

London's FTSE 100 was down 1% to 6,897.89 in afternoon trade on Tuesday as sterling got a boost from solid UK employment data.

EasyJet was the standout gainer as the budget airline reported 14% jump in total revenue, a 20% rise in ancillary revenue and a 12% increase in passenger numbers for the first quarter. It also revealed a £10m cost impact from the drone incident at Gatwick related to customer welfare costs.

Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The drone disruption at Gatwick in December means these results aren’t quite what easyJet was hoping for at the start of the year, but it hasn’t blown things too far off course.

"New planes have driven substantial increases in passengers and revenues, and the group’s also getting better at selling passengers additional services - think extra leg room, priority boarding and microwaved paninis.

"Integrating the old Air Berlin routes from Tegel airport is proving more of a challenge than initially expected, and that’s weighing on margins and adds pressure to deliver results over the summer. Fortunately Brexit disruption seems to be minimal so far, and while meeting full year expectations may be a bit more of a stretch from here, they’re still very achievable."

Rentokil Initial was on the rise even as Peel Hunt cut its rating on the stock to 'hold' from 'add' and nudged the target price up to 345p from 343p as part of a note on the support services sector.

Wood Group was the worst performer as Exane cut the stock to 'neutral' from 'outperform' amid concerns over its accounting, while Royal Dutch Shell was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Elsewhere, mining giant BHP retreated as it said second quarter iron ore production fell 6% and reported a $600m negative impact due to production disruptions at copper and iron ore operations.

FTSE 100 - Risers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,226.50p 5.60%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 917.10p 3.56%
Kingfisher (KGF) 223.20p 2.53%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 277.40p 1.61%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,396.00p 1.61%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,933.00p 1.61%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 232.00p 1.53%
Informa (INF) 685.40p 1.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 906.60p 1.21%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 351.50p 1.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 524.20p -4.20%
Evraz (EVR) 450.20p -2.93%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,433.50p -2.55%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,348.00p -2.29%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,803.00p -2.26%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,118.00p -2.22%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 169.15p -2.11%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,848.50p -2.10%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,579.00p -1.99%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,325.50p -1.96%