FTSE 100 movers: Utilities on the rise; RS Group falls after results

London’s FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 7,660.12 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Utilities were on the rise, with Centrica, United Utilities, Severn Trent and National Grid all up.

Vodafone was also in the black following a report that its Spanish business is attracting takeover interest from potential buyers.

Bloomberg cited people with knowledge of the matter as saying that the telecommunications group has been contacted by private equity and strategic suitors.

Sources said that while it’s not running a formal sale process for the unit, Vodafone would consider offers at the right price.

It was understood that Vodafone’s Spanish unit could be valued at more than $4bn.

RS Group was weaker as it said it expects annual adjusted operating profit to be slightly ahead of estimates after a 1% rise in fourth-quarter like-for-like revenue despite weak electronics sales.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,118.00p 3.42%
Centrica (CNA) 110.65p 2.83%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,069.50p 2.69%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 89.53p 2.34%
Haleon (HLN) 338.65p 2.31%
Barclays (BARC) 149.82p 2.27%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,907.00p 2.22%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,123.00p 2.17%
National Grid (NG.) 1,126.50p 2.13%
GSK (GSK) 1,476.20p 1.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

RS Group (RS1) 836.20p -6.57%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,411.00p -4.73%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,855.00p -4.13%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,780.50p -3.39%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,400.00p -2.94%
Kingfisher (KGF) 249.50p -2.92%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 601.80p -2.87%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,171.50p -2.86%
Halma (HLMA) 2,149.00p -2.50%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,886.00p -2.43%