FTSE 100 movers: Glaxo jumps on results; Meggitt tumbles after profit warning

London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.8% to 6,415.65 at 1400 GMT as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement, which is due after the European close.

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology

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-2.70%

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Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline was the standout gainer after its third-quarter revenue and core earnings per share beat market expectations. Revenues rose 11% to £6.13bn to beat consensus forecasts of £6.07bn and core EPS declined 13% at constant exchange rates to 23p but still beat forecasts of 19p. A third-quarter dividend of 19p per share was declared, with 80p expected for the full year.

BT Group was also on the front foot after its £12.5bn acquisition of the EE mobile network was provisionally approved by UK competition officials unconditionally and without remedies. The Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday that it had decided the acquisition "is not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK".

British American Tobacco rallied after its results. Although the company posted a drop in sales for the first nine months of the year as it was hit by currency movements, organic sales were ahead of consensus estimates. Year-to-date cigarette volume from subsidiaries fell by 1.8% to 487bn, while cigarette market share in key markets rose by 40 basis points and Global Drive Brands cigarette volume grew by 7.2% in the year to date.

On the downside, Meggitt shares tumbled after it warned that full-year profit will be well below forecasts after the aerospace and industrial components supplier endured softer trading during the third quarter, with a "marked deterioration" in its end markets in September. Operating profit for the year will be "meaningfully below" the current consensus estimate of £369m, the company said, with the weakness in the third quarter spreading into the fourth.

Chilean copper producer Antofagasta was on the back foot after cutting its production target for this year again as it reported fairly stable output for the third quarter compared with the second. The company cut its full-year guidance for the third time this year, to 635,000 tonnes of copper from 665,000 tonnes as a result of the delayed ramp-up at the Centinela contrates operations and a minor pit-wall slide at the Centinela cathode operations.

Lloyds Banking Group fell after it reported a decline in third quarter underlying profit as it was hit by a further charge for insurance mis-selling. In the three months to the end of September, the group said its underlying profit declined 8.7% year-on-year to £1.97bn as a result of tougher trading conditions in commercial banking and were slightly below expectations.

Supermarket retailer Wm Morrison was under the cosh after Bank of America Merill Lynch cut its stance on the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’.

FTSE 100 - Risers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,413.50p 3.36%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,660.00p 3.19%
BT Group (BT.A) 465.85p 3.06%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,099.00p 2.89%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,563.00p 2.89%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,893.50p 2.64%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,168.00p 2.28%
Fresnillo (FRES) 750.50p 2.25%
CRH (CRH) 1,777.00p 1.72%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 418.00p 1.65%