FTSE 100 movers: Diageo and Shell rally on results but SLA hit by downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 6,968.31 in afternoon trade on Thursday, with solid results from Shell and Diageo providing a boost.
Antofagasta and Anglo American made gains as metals price rose, while Evraz was on the front foot after a fourth-quarter trading update.
Drinks giant Diageo was also a high riser after it said first half net sales rose 5.8% to £6.9bn, with organic growth partially offset by unfavourable exchange. Reported operating profit (£2.4 billion) was up 11.0%, driven by organic growth, while pre-tax profits were up to £2.6bn from £2.2bn.
Steve Clayton, manager of the HL Select funds, which are investors in Diageo, said: "These figures show the underlying strength of Diageo, with good growth across the board, despite a volatile macro-economic backdrop."
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell gushed higher as it reported a 36% jump in full-year earnings and a 32% increase in fourth-quarter earnings as it benefited from higher realised oil, gas and liquefied natural gas prices and cost cutting.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Every other quarterly set of figures for 2018 saw Shell come in short of expectations. But not this time. The company’s main measure of profit beat consensus and even came in ahead of the third quarter number - buoyed in particular by its refining, marketing and integrated gas operations.
"This is testament to the progress Shell has made in becoming a more efficient operation, particularly when you consider the average oil price in the fourth quarter was around $64 compared with $73 in the third quarter."
On the downside, Standard Life Aberdeen was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'equalweight' by Morgan Stanley, as it argued that the risk/reward was less attractive as its new estimates for the group are around 20% below consensus.
Unilever fell as it churned out underlying sales growth at the bottom end of its guidance for 2018 after growth at the Marmite and Ben & Jerry's maker slowed in the fourth quarter. New boss Alan Jope said he expects market conditions in 2019 to "remain challenging".
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 870.60p 4.56%
Diageo (DGE) 2,892.00p 4.33%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,375.00p 3.92%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,362.00p 3.78%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,009.00p 3.72%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,018.00p 3.54%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,952.80p 2.83%
Evraz (EVR) 499.80p 2.67%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,696.50p 2.45%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 837.60p 2.17%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 252.95p -4.57%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,236.00p -3.70%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 614.70p -2.75%
Barclays (BARC) 157.44p -2.72%
ITV (ITV) 129.95p -2.44%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,166.50p -2.34%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,973.50p -2.26%
DCC (DCC) 6,290.00p -2.10%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 639.40p -1.92%
Informa (INF) 677.40p -1.88%