FTSE 100 movers: Johnson Matthey surges on special divi; housebuilders slip on Bovis warning

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.8% to 6,330.10 at 1500 GMT, as investors digested the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which signalled the US economy was strong enough to cope with a December rate hike.

Johnson Matthey surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after the specialty chemicals firm declared a special dividend as it posted a rise in first half revenue. Underlying revenue was up 20% on the same period last year to £5.76bn and the company declared an interim dividend of 19.5p per share, up 5%, as well as a special dividend of 150p per share following the £305m sale of its research chemicals business and gold and silver refineries.

Building materials group CRH was also on the front foot after it said sales in the nine months to the end of September rose 16% from last year, as it reiterated its guidance that 2015 will be a year of growth thanks to continued positive momentum in the Americas. Cumulative sales from continuing operations increased to €15.5bn (£10.8bn), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were up 34% to €1.5bn. Group sales in the first half were up 17% compared with the same period last year, and 14% in the third quarter.

Royal Mail advanced after its first half earnings and dividend came in as expected and investors welcomed the company’s positive outlook and cost-cutting efforts. “The fact that the company is accelerating the transformation should be reflected further down the line in a leaner business, whilst its ability to generate cash has enabled a further increase to the dividend, where the projected yield of 4.8% is attractive in the current interest rate environment,” Hargreaves Lansdown said.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals rose for the second day in a row after it said on Wednesday that it had overcome concerns raised by the US Food and Drug Administration over environmental monitoringissues at its Portugal plant.

On the downside, Berkeley Group, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey were under pressure following a warning from peer Bovis Homes. Shares in Bovis tumbled after the housebuilder revealed its mix of homes for 2015 will be more weighted to existing sites than previously expected.

It said this was due to a number of unexpected planning delays attributable to a lack of sub-contract labour availability and as a result, its operating profit margin for the year will be just marginally ahead of last year.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,673.00p 8.79%
CRH (CRH) 1,870.00p 5.17%
Royal Mail (RMG) 472.40p 4.01%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,108.00p 2.93%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,040.00p 2.72%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,084.00p 2.65%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,783.00p 2.35%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,055.00p 2.33%
Sage Group (SGE) 558.50p 2.20%
Kingfisher (KGF) 356.70p 2.15%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,088.00p -1.62%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,838.00p -1.45%
G4S (GFS) 229.20p -1.42%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,522.00p -1.34%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,265.00p -1.33%
Anglo American (AAL) 444.10p -1.19%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.20p -0.81%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 540.00p -0.55%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 252.40p -0.47%
Glencore (GLEN) 92.90p -0.44%