FTSE 100 movers: Miners rally but Babcock, Kingfisher slump on updates

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.8% to 6,832.83 in afternoon trade.

Miners were the standout gainers as metals prices, particularly copper, pushed higher. Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto were all firmly in the black.

Babcock International was the heaviest faller on the index after its first-half numbers. The company said pre-tax profit rose 12% to £163.5m on revenues up 7% to £2.1bn and that full-year results are likely to be in line with expectations.

However, investors were disappointed that organic growth slowed to 4% from 8% a year earlier.

Kingfisher was also under the cosh as the home improvement retailer said sales kept improving in the third quarter, but like-for-like sales growth slowed due to further softness in France.

Food services company Compass was weaker after it said underlying full-year revenue rose 5% to £19.9bn, which was a touch below expectations, while profit was up 5.6% to £1.44bn.

Education publisher Pearson was also in the red as Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ and cut the price target to 740p from 840p.

It said: "Pearson faces a number of challenges, including high print textbook prices, exposure to print declines, a growing
textbook rental market, piracy, Open Educational Resources, declining college enrolments, volatility in book returns and a history of profit warnings."

Intertek was under pressure as the testing, inspection and certification services provider posted softening organic growth for the second half, but said total revenue was driven higher by acquisitions.

Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,183.00p 5.39%
Glencore (GLEN) 281.20p 4.87%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,321.50p 3.93%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 211.40p 3.83%
Standard Life (SL.) 354.40p 3.38%
Old Mutual (OML) 192.70p 3.32%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,951.00p 3.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 701.50p 2.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,055.00p 2.88%
Centrica (CNA) 200.20p 2.56%

Fallers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 948.50p -4.29%
Kingfisher (KGF) 358.70p -2.98%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,351.00p -2.88%
Pearson (PSON) 765.00p -2.55%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,300.00p -2.26%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,202.00p -1.29%
Royal Mail (RMG) 457.10p -1.21%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,950.00p -0.92%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,687.50p -0.52%
Polymetal International (POLY) 779.00p -0.38%