Source: Sharecast
Associated British Goods was the top riser after Panmure Liberum upgraded shares of the Primark owner to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and hiked the price target to 2,600p from 1,900p as it said the market underestimates the pace of recovery of Sugar profits.
Panmure said earnings in the sugar division are volatile and have a disproportionate impact on ABF’s share price, which dissuades investors from buying the stock.
It argued that the sugar segment is a quality business that generates better returns than peers, but one that has material short-term earnings risks.
"We calculate that a carve-out of the ABF Sugar business could lead to an 13-15% higher value for shareholders, and a potential disposal could generate more," Panmure Liberum, said. "However, we turn positive on ABF even with Sugar. We think the market underestimates the pace of recovery of Sugar profits, with actions already taken to address underperforming businesses."
Precious metals miner Fresnillo shone as gold and silver prices rose.
AstraZeneca was also in the black after saying that its Baxdrostat hypertension treatment met the primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase III trial.
The drug, which was tested in patients with uncontrolled or treatment-resistant hypertension over 12 weeks, demonstrated a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction" of systolic blood pressure compared with the placebo, the pharma giant said.
BA and Iberia owner IAG flew higher as JP Morgan flagged the stock as one of its top picks across Europe's airlines. The Wall Street bank put IAG on ‘positive catalyst watch’ into the second half.
DCC was weaker after saying it has agreed to sell its Info Tech business in the UK and Ireland to private equity investor Aurelius for around £100m.
The sales, marketing and support services group said the net cash proceeds from the sale are "not material", reflecting the working capital seasonality, and the supply chain financing associated with the business.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,111.00p 3.08%
National Grid (NG.) 1,046.50p 1.80%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.00p 1.64%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,540.00p 1.58%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 81.68p 1.54%
Kingfisher (KGF) 280.40p 1.52%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,299.50p 1.37%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 373.50p 1.14%
Tesco (TSCO) 405.60p 1.12%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,562.00p 1.07%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,025.00p -2.51%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,231.00p -1.20%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 527.80p -1.16%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 258.20p -1.00%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,688.00p -0.97%
Halma (HLMA) 3,186.00p -0.93%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,870.00p -0.93%
SEGRO (SGRO) 651.40p -0.85%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,986.00p -0.80%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,578.00p -0.77%