FTSE 100 movers: Shire up, while expired pay deal sinks Royal Mail

The FTSE 100 was down late on Friday as investors digested data showing weak UK manufacturing activity, though US data out in the afternoon showed nonfarm payrolls as rising more than expected in March.

Pharmaceuticals giant Shire was on the up, after Exane BNP Paribas reiterated its ‘outperform’ recommendation in the morning. Analysts at the investment company set a target price of 5,700p on the stock, indicating a potential upside of 44.2% from its opening price of 3,952p. Earlier in the week, it was revealed Shire’s chief executive Flemming Ornskov was seeing his pay soar to £15m in 2015, an eye-watering £12.1m higher than the pay packet he received in 2014.

Satellite communications group Inmarsat was also rising after it received notification from US-based Ligado Networks - previously known as LightSquared - that it had decided to take the 30 MHz option under the pair’s cooperation agreement. Inmarsat said it was still in talks with Ligado around the details and any change in payments, but provided no further information.

Postal operator Royal Mail was under pressure, as it prepared for a fresh dispute with unions. The deadline for a new pay deal passed on Thursday night without resolution, and issues over pensions remained. The initial 9%, three-year pay deal secured by the Communications Workers Union on privatisation of Royal Mail expired on the last day of April, with no sign of a new deal despite two months of informal talks.

Beleaguered heavy engineer Rolls-Royce was also down, after being drawn into the unfolding bribery scandal in the oil industry along with Petrofac. It’s understood the Serious Fraud Office had joined forces with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice to investigate claims that lobbying firm Unaoil was involved in bribe payments to officials in a number of oil-producing countries.

One email suggested Unaoil lobbyists, working on behalf of Rolls-Royce, discussed inflating prices charged to Iraq to boost earnings from a large generator supply contract.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Shire Plc (SHP) 4,031.00p 1.82%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,118.00p 1.58%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,161.00p 1.13%
Next (NXT) 5,460.00p 1.11%
Wolseley (WOS) 3,979.00p 1.02%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 566.00p 0.98%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,023.00p 0.89%
Carnival (CCL) 3,784.00p 0.85%
CRH (CRH) 1,981.00p 0.76%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 992.00p 0.76%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Glencore (GLEN) 150.10p -4.58%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 455.50p -3.61%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 661.00p -3.08%
Anglo American (AAL) 535.10p -3.08%
Pearson (PSON) 850.00p -2.86%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,328.00p -2.71%
Schroders (SDR) 2,611.00p -2.68%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 457.60p -2.51%
Fresnillo (FRES) 931.00p -2.26%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,941.00p -2.12%