FTSE 100 movers: Shire surges on earnings growth, RBS hit by weak revenues

Shire surged after reporting that earnings rose 20% in the first quarter as sales at the Dublin-headquartered drug company overcame a sharp drop in its Intuniv attention deficit disorder drug and dollar headwinds.

Royal Dutch Shell was trading higher after revealing a better-than-expected 56% drop in first-quarter earnings to $3.25bn. Shell also shaved its capital investment budget for 2015 by $2bn to "$33bn or less".

Tesco and Sainsbury were boosted after UBS declared in initiation of the European food retail sector and issued 'buy' ratings on both stocks, while Morrison was in the red on a 'sell' rating'. "Given our positive stance on the UK, we like Tesco and Sainsbury's, but we think Morrison needs to invest more than consensus models,” UBS said.

Royal Bank of Scotland registered losses after revealing that revenues weakened in the first quarter, due to £856m in litigation and conduct charges, which were significantly underestimated. Instead of the £306m in statutory profits expected by analysts, the lender registered a loss of £446m.

Airline conglomerate IAG dipped despite making its first-ever profit in the first quarter. The company beat expectations with an operating profit of €25m, compared with a €150m loss the year before.

A number of stocks were trading lower after going ex-dividend, including Centrica, Fresnillo, ITV, and Reed Elsevier.

Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 467.10p +5.16%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,440.00p +2.84%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 621.50p +2.81%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,855.00p +2.29%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 166.60p +1.65%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 472.80p +1.44%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,862.00p +1.42%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 519.00p +1.37%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,652.00p +1.35%
Capita (CPI) 1,134.00p +1.34%

Fallers
Centrica (CNA) 255.40p -4.56%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,088.00p -4.44%
ITV (ITV) 251.80p -4.44%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 337.20p -3.52%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 542.50p -2.95%
Fresnillo (FRES) 719.00p -2.71%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,975.00p -2.36%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 186.20p -2.31%
Meggitt (MGGT) 525.50p -1.78%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,864.50p -1.75%