FTSE 100 movers: Lloyds slumps; Pearson recovers

dl lloyds banking group plc lloy financials banks banks banks ftse 100 premium lloyds bank 20230403 1451 — Lloyds Banking GroupSharecast graphic / Josh White

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,788.24 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Education publisher Pearson rose, having tumbled on Tuesday after US peer Chegg warned over the impact of AI on its homework-help services.

Lloyds slumped as it became the latest UK lender to beat quarterly profit forecasts as earnings surged on the back of higher interest rates, but said that deposits fell sharply. The bank posted first-quarter pre-tax profit of £2.26bn, up 46% and better than the £1.95bn average of analyst forecasts. Net income, generated after deposit payouts, rose 15% to £4.7bn.

Customer deposits fell by £2.2bn to £473.1bn, including a reduction in retail current account balances of £3.5bn, partly driven by seasonal customer outflows, including tax payments, higher spend and a more competitive market, Lloyds said.

Haleon lost ground as the consumer health company said first-quarter profits came in below expectations as higher costs hit earnings margins.

RS Group was weaker as it said that chief financial officer David Egan was leaving the business with immediate effect after admitting a relationship with a colleague that fell "short of the high standards expected" of the company.

Barratt Developments fell despite hinting at a recovery in the housing market and saying that sales rates have picked up after a difficult end to 2022.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pearson (PSON) 824.20p +9.31%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 422.10p +2.95%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 96.42p +2.91%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,615.00p +2.83%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,496.00p +2.59%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 628.00p +2.58%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,426.00p +2.34%

F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 902.00p +1.81%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,764.00p +1.69%

Fresnillo (FRES) 712.00p +1.63%

FTSE 100 - Fallers