FTSE 100 movers: Vodafone rallies on results but easyJet flies lower

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.9% to 7,522.81 in afternoon trade, breaching the 7,500 level for the first time.

Mobile-focussed telco Vodafone rallied. Although the company posted a €6.1bn loss for the year to the end of March, mostly on the back of a €3.7bn writedown of its Indian unit, investors welcomed its EBITDA guidance for full-year 2018 of €14bn to €14.5bn versus consensus expectations of €13.8bn.

Easyjet flew lower after reporting a headline loss before tax of £212m, which included around a £45m impact from Easter not falling in the first half and a negative net currency impact of £82m. The airline said it flew a record number of passengers in the first six months of its financial year, though revenue per seat decreased and cost per seat increased.

Micro Focus International was weaker as it emerged it has not been included in the MSCI as expected.

Business support group DDC was in the red despite saying full year pre-tax profits rose 23.7% to £268.2m on the back of a 17% rise in revenue to £12.2bn.

United Utilities and Severn Trent were under the cosh after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stocks to 'hold' from 'buy' saying they were at fair value following target price increase to 1,050p from 1,000 and 2,450p from 2,300p, respectively.

Hargreaves Lansdown was a faller amid news that US fund manager Vanguard has launched a direct-to-consumer service, also slashing fees to less than half the UK average. Reports suggested Vanguard will offer the cheapest way to buy funds and investment ISAs in the UK, with fees half the level charged by the likes of Hargreaves and Fidelity Funds Network.

Risers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 220.95p 4.67%
Kingfisher (KGF) 358.00p 2.58%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,507.00p 1.96%
BT Group (BT.A) 309.40p 1.94%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,638.00p 1.93%
Diageo (DGE) 2,326.00p 1.93%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,491.00p 1.80%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,068.00p 1.61%
Relx plc (REL) 1,637.00p 1.55%
Next (NXT) 4,325.00p 1.43%

Fallers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,228.00p -6.26%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,382.00p -4.49%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,438.00p -2.48%
DCC (DCC) 7,225.00p -1.90%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,011.00p -1.46%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,404.00p -1.03%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 347.10p -1.03%
Centrica (CNA) 190.80p -0.78%
Intu Properties (INTU) 274.00p -0.58%
SSE (SSE) 1,439.00p -0.35%