FTSE 100 movers: Informa gains on Q1; RBS hit by court case news

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% to 7,551.20 in afternoon trade, hitting a new record on Friday as the pound lost ground after the latest poll showed the Tory lead over Labour narrowing.

Informa was the top riser after its first-quarter update showed trading at its exhibitions arm was strong, while trading from events, business and academic publishing was steady. Chief executive Stephen Carter said the company was on track for a fourth consecutive year of growth in revenue, earnings and cashflow.

Aerospace and defence company Rolls-Royce was on the front foot, likely lifted by sterling's weakness. In a trading update earlier this month, the company said a weaker pound could boost its sales by £400m and its pre-tax profit by £50m. Peer BAE Systems was also on the rise.

RBS was the biggest loser, meanwhile, as the High Court pushed back until 1 June the start of a trial with a shareholder action group claiming compensation over its 2008 rights issue.

The group is refusing to accept a settlement in their £700m legal claim against the bank, with the state-backed lender having offered about £200m, or 82p per share held.

Peers Lloyds and Barclays followed suit.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company Shire slipped as it was cut to 'market perform' at Bernstein.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,544.98 0.36%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,025.60 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,627.82 0.59%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Informa (INF) 686.50p 5.53%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 869.50p 2.11%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,157.00p 2.00%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,225.00p 1.83%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,644.50p 1.64%
BAE Systems (BA.) 665.50p 1.45%
WPP (WPP) 1,735.00p 1.40%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 282.10p 1.26%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 398.40p 1.25%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,640.00p 1.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 261.20p -1.80%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 71.97p -1.55%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,039.00p -1.42%
DCC (DCC) 7,325.00p -1.15%
Barclays (BARC) 211.65p -1.12%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,390.00p -1.07%
Standard Life (SL.) 385.00p -0.95%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,104.00p -0.89%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,441.00p -0.85%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,698.50p -0.83%