FTSE 100 movers: St James's Place rallies on results, miners and ITV drop

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,288.27 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, keeping its head just above water as miners retreated.

St James’s Place was the standout gainer after it said that 2017 operating profits on a European embedded value basis were up 36% to £9185m, surpassing forecasts of £845.5m.

Business information, exhibitions, events and academic publishing group Informa rose as it said revenue in the 12 months to the end of December grew 30.7% to £1.76bn.

On the downside, ITV slumped as the broadcaster said profits fell last year amid a squeeze on advertising sales, although the dividend was lifted 10% as a 'strategic refresh' got underway under new chief executive Carolyn McCall.

Taylor Wimpey was on the back foot. Although the housebuilder posted a 10.7% jump in full-year profits before exceptional items, it swung to a 5.8% fall when you take into account a one-off charge in relation to a leasehold issue.

Insurer Admiral reversed earlier gains to trade lower despite posting a 43% jump in full-year pre-tax profit and declaring a special dividend amid record customer numbers. In the year to the end of December, pre-tax profit rose to £405.4m from £284.3m, with earnings per share up 49% to 117.2p. Group net revenue was up 11% to £1.13bn, while group customers also increased 11%, to 5.73 million.

Heavily-weighted miners were under the cosh as both the Chinese manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs for February came in lower than expected at 50.3 and 54.5, respectively. Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton were all in the red.

Risers

St James's Place (STJ) 1,164.00p 3.42%
Tesco (TSCO) 212.60p 2.66%
GKN (GKN) 439.70p 2.09%
BAE Systems (BA.) 584.20p 2.03%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,611.00p 1.34%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,094.00p 1.31%
Informa (INF) 694.80p 1.28%
Barclays (BARC) 214.70p 1.27%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,913.00p 1.03%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,340.00p 1.01%

Fallers

ITV (ITV) 161.25p -6.90%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.35p -4.85%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,872.50p -3.03%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 813.70p -3.02%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,798.60p -2.36%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,953.00p -2.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,243.50p -2.32%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 885.20p -2.27%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,492.00p -2.16%
SEGRO (SGRO) 563.20p -2.09%