FTSE 100 movers: Provident Financial recovers; United Utilities goes ex-div
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,426.43 in afternoon trade.
Subprime lender Provident Financial was the top performer as it recovered from heavy losses in the previous session, when it warned that its consumer credit division would see profits nearly halve in 2017 compared to a year ago, mostly due to restructuring.
Back in February the company announced with its full-year results that it was planning to cut around 2,000 of its self-employed debt collection agents and move more people into new positions onto the company payroll. After the close on Tuesday, Provident said the recruitment of around 2,500 full-time customer experience managers is now virtually complete, but that the business has experienced higher operational disruption than planned due to the reduced agent effectiveness through the period of transition.
Pharmaceutical group Shire got a shot in the arm after saying it has received a marketing authorisation application from the European Medicines Agency for doctors to use its Veyvondi treatment on adult patients with the bleeding disorder von Willebrand Disease.
The news came a day after Shire said the US Food and Drug Administration had approved Mydayis as a once-daily treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Fresnillo and Randgold Resources shone as gold prices rallied, but United Utilities and Land Securities retreated as their stock went ex-dividend.
Supermarket retailer Wm Morrison was also on the back foot, with traders pointing to continued worries about the fallout from the Amazon/Whole Foods Market deal announced last week.
Risers
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,465.00p 4.40%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,572.50p 2.52%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,580.00p 2.07%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 332.20p 1.37%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,704.50p 1.28%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,075.00p 1.14%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,585.00p 1.07%
3i Group (III) 905.00p 0.95%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,777.00p 0.91%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 418.60p 0.87%
Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 900.50p -4.00%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 242.60p -2.06%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,062.00p -2.04%
Barclays (BARC) 196.60p -1.77%
Carnival (CCL) 5,155.00p -1.72%
Glencore (GLEN) 276.80p -1.65%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,134.00p -1.48%
CRH (CRH) 2,833.00p -1.46%
BAE Systems (BA.) 667.00p -1.40%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,021.00p -1.35%