FTSE 100 movers: Shell falls after profit miss and spending cuts, Easyjet soars on upgrade

Oil major Shell topped the fallers after saying it is looking to reduce costs and lower investment in 2015 in response to the collapse in crude prices, as it curtailed over $15bn of potential spending over the next three years. The comments came as the firm reported adjusted annual profit growth of just 12% in the fourth quarter to $3.3bn, well below the consensus forecast of $4.2bn.

Shell’s shares were down by nearly 5%, dragging others in the sector lower such as BP, BG Group and Tullow Oil.

News of a cut in spending by Shell, one of the biggest oil groups in the world, was also weighing on stocks in the energy services and equipment sectors such as Weir Group.

Royal Mail also declined after revealing that its chairman Donald Brydon will step down later this year.

Easyjet was flying high after analysts at Barclays Capital upgraded their stance on the stock from ‘equalweight’ to ‘overweight’ and hiked their target price from 1,850p to 2,150p. “The company has proven our capacity concerns unfounded, growing pricing despite a fierce competitive environment, which could now improve into the summer (despite lower oil),” the bank said.

Diageo, the drinks giant, was boosted by a much improved performance in the second quarter, with stronger net sales, volumes and margins.

Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,862.00p +5.38%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,029.00p +3.42%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 468.40p +2.34%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,160.00p +2.03%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 137.00p +2.01%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 486.70p +1.91%
Diageo (DGE) 1,999.00p +1.89%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,944.00p +1.62%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,710.00p +1.60%
Centrica (CNA) 291.90p +1.50%

Fallers
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,053.50p -4.64%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,145.00p -4.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 872.50p -4.12%
Carnival (CCL) 2,967.00p -3.29%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,280.00p -3.10%
BP (BP.) 422.25p -2.47%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,460.00p -2.24%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 884.90p -2.22%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 659.00p -2.15%
Glencore (GLEN) 252.55p -2.09%