FTSE 100 movers: Pearson drives blue-chips up on broker note

The FTSE 100 continued to rise on Wednesday, with the blue chip market up 65.57 points (1.09%) to 6,083.36 mid-afternoon.

Pearson was the day’s big winner after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the educational publisher’s stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’. “Risks of further earnings downgrades are real but seem discounted by an all-time low valuation. We are hopeful the new chairman will lead a profound refocussing of the group with better capital allocation.

Cyclical and structural headwinds should ease from 2017,” the bank said. Exane said Sydney Taurel brings with him a wealth of experience that will certainly please shareholders. His immediate task will be to restore credibility after the stock’s 45% plunge in the last six months and Exane is hopeful of seeing positive developments.

Investors were happy with Rolls-Royce splitting out its divisions and reshuffling its senior management team, in what it said is the first step in a “wide-ranging” restructuring programme. The company said the current top-level Aerospace and Land & Sea divisional structure will end, leaving the company’s five key divisions - Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems - reporting directly to new chief executive Warren East.

As a result top executives Tony Wood, who is President of Aerospace, and Lawrie Haynes, who is President of Land & Sea, will leave the company in 2016 after assisting with the transition. The company said the changes, including a reshuffling of senior management, will take effect on 1 January 2016 and should “clarify executive accountabilities, intensify leadership focus on operational performance and allow Rolls-Royce to build on its world class engineering capabilities”.

Tills were ringing at Dixons Carphone in 2015, as the multinational reported its first set of half yearly results since its creation. The electronics and travel retailer saw like-for-like revenue rise 5% over the period, to £4.39bn. Its proforma headline profit before tax was also up, 23% to $121m, with statutory profit before tax £78m from its continuing operations.

In the report, Dixons Carphone said it had improved its market share across the UK and Ireland, Nordics, Greece and Spain markets. "Against a broadly flat market overall and a very strong competitive period, we have seen continued like-for-like growth driven by market share gains across all territories", said group chief executive Sebastian James.

Sport Direct International shares prices fell on the fallout over its staff’s pay and working conditions. An investigation in The Guardian last week claimed thousands of Sports Direct workers were receiving effective hourly rates of pay below the minimum wage, as well as being subject to daily searches, being harangued via tannoy to hit targets, and a ‘six strikes and you’re out’ regime.

This week the retailer was rounded on by MPs during an urgent parliamentary debate and the company was deserted by some of its leading City cheerleaders. Former shadow business minister, Chuka Umunna, branded the retailer as “a bad advert for British business” and said it had “a culture of fear in the workplace that we would not wish to see repeated elsewhere”.

And finally, Mondi shares were rebalanced after a substantial rise on Tuesday. It followed news that the paper and packaging company terminated its agreement to buy two of Walki Group’s extrusion coatings plants in Finland and Poland due to European Commission competition concerns.Mondi said the two companies, which announced the agreement in May, have been in discussions with the EC about ways to alleviate concerns related to the impact on the competitive environment.

“However, no workable solution suitable for all parties has been found and therefore Walki and Mondi have decided to withdraw the application to the Commission and terminate the acquisition agreement.” Mondi said extrusion coatings remain a core part of its business and product portfolio and it will continue to operate its extrusion coatings division as before “to the benefit of its customers and other stakeholders”.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pearson (PSON) 747.50p 5.73%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 506.80p 5.15%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 566.00p 4.81%
Anglo American (AAL) 282.10p 4.06%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 714.40p 4.00%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,329.00p 3.52%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 525.40p 2.70%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,930.00p 2.69%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 488.70p 2.52%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 422.60p 2.35%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 567.50p -2.07%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,035.00p -1.62%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,947.00p -1.17%
Next (NXT) 7,425.00p -1.07%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,313.00p -0.98%
Tesco (TSCO) 148.05p -0.84%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,084.00p -0.82%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 247.80p -0.60%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,447.00p -0.55%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,483.00p -0.47%