FTSE 100 movers: Royal Mail sees red; miners shine on weaker dollar

Royal Mail shares led the FTSE 100 fallers on Friday as the company said it expects the overall cost of a new staff pensions plan to be fundable from its current £400m annual pension contribution.

The postal group proposed to offer staff the choice between a defined benefit scheme and a defined contribution scheme, set up as a new section of the Royal Mail Pension Plan and available for all plan members.

The Unite union is planning to hold a consultative ballot of its near-6,000 Royal Mail members on the proposal.

Royal Mail, which said it is one of few companies offering to replace one defined benefit scheme with another, will continue its total contribution of 15.6%, unchanged from the initial DB cash balance proposal, adding that it expects the overall cost of the proposal will be funded within its current £400m annual contribution.

Shares in ITV fell as Goldman Sachs trimmed its share price target for the the broadcaster and other European media operators as it cut it forecasts for industry advertising revenue for the second quarter but spied a rebound ahead.

A 'buy' rating was maintained on ITV's shares -- which are also liked for their M&A potential -- but the target price was shaved almost 4% to 228p, from 237p, which from the opening price of 177.5p on Friday, still offers plenty of upside.

But with the free-to-air broadcast sub-sector down 8% over the last month and 12% over three months, Goldman said this suggested the market does not expect a cyclical recovery in the second half of the year.

International sales, marketing and support services group DCC despite reporting that first quarter trading was in line with expectations and expected the full year to produce “profit and growth”.

“Were current foreign exchange rates to prevail for the remainder of the year, the group would benefit modestly, relative to current market consensus, from a favourable translation of non-sterling profits into sterling,” DCC said.

Miners were all in favour as the dollar fell and boosted gold prices, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore all higher.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,392.20 -0.29%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,385.04 -0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 3,482.76 -0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Tesco (TSCO) 174.65p 1.13%
Standard Life (SL.) 414.30p 0.83%
Glencore (GLEN) 316.40p 0.59%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,199.00p 0.57%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,438.50p 0.54%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,815.00p 0.52%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 627.00p 0.48%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 744.50p 0.47%
Pearson (PSON) 631.50p 0.40%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,295.00p 0.39%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Mail (RMG) 400.20p -2.63%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 590.00p -1.75%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,875.00p -1.37%
Kingfisher (KGF) 294.70p -1.34%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,024.00p -1.27%
ITV (ITV) 175.10p -1.24%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,370.00p -1.21%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 253.80p -1.17%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,956.00p -1.14%
WPP (WPP) 1,547.00p -1.09%