FTSE 100 movers: Smurfit jumps on results; Barratt in the red

London’s FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower at 7,638.39 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Smurfit Kappa rallied as the corrugated packaging group reported a drop in full-year earnings and revenue amid a "difficult" demand environment, but said that volumes returned to growth in the fourth quarter. Peer DS Smith also gained.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was in the black after Barratt Developments agreed to buy Redrow for £2.5bn, boosting the sector.

Under the terms of the deal, Redrow investors will receive 1.44 new Barratt shares for their own stock which would leave them with 32.8% of the combined group and Barratt shareholders with the remainder.

Barratt was sharply lower, however. News of the merger came alongside half-year results, which showed that pre-tax profits at Barratt plunged 81% to £95.2m and the housebuilder slashed its dividend by 57% to 4.4p a share.

Sainsbury's also lost ground after saying in a strategy update that it plans to overhaul its supermarkets to focus more on food space as it looks to cut costs by £1bn over the next three years.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,980.00p 3.83%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 280.80p 2.86%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 148.85p 1.22%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,016.00p 1.09%
WPP (WPP) 790.20p 1.07%
Centrica (CNA) 134.25p 0.79%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 320.30p 0.79%
IMI (IMI) 1,723.00p 0.76%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,382.50p 0.69%
3i Group (III) 2,332.00p 0.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 499.50p -5.75%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 265.60p -3.63%
Tesco (TSCO) 282.80p -2.45%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 245.80p -2.27%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 64.77p -2.20%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 108.50p -2.03%
Glencore (GLEN) 402.50p -1.95%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,312.00p -1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,789.00p -1.84%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,733.00p -1.79%