London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,758.25 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Luxury goods brand Burberry rallied as it lifted full-year guidance after reporting a “strong rebound” in trading since December. In an unscheduled trading update, Burberry said fourth-quarter comparable retail sales were now expected to be 28% – 32% higher year-on-year.
Tesco was also in the black after it received approval from the Polish Competition Authoritiy for the sale of its business there. The company announced in June 2020 that it had agreed to sell its Polish business for around £181m to Danish retailer Salling Group. The deal includes the includes the sale of 301 stores together with the associated distribution centres and head office.
On the downside, Berkeley Group fell after saying it was on track to report annual pre-tax profit similar to the £504m achieved the year before based on “robust” trading in the four months to the end of February. The housebuilder also said it expects the value of reservations for the current financial year to be around 20% lower than last year. Peer Barratt Developments also lost ground.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,116.00p 6.52%
Barclays (BARC) 179.08p 2.77%
M&G (MNG) 225.10p 2.64%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 178.65p 1.94%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 292.10p 1.88%
Tesco (TSCO) 224.10p 1.86%
Schroders (SDR) 3,416.00p 1.67%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 189.90p 1.61%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 492.10p 1.57%
Kingfisher (KGF) 298.40p 1.22%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,330.00p -5.29%
Fresnillo (FRES) 923.20p -3.49%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,137.00p -2.65%
Informa (INF) 560.80p -1.92%
Experian (EXPN) 2,413.00p -1.75%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,192.00p -1.75%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,412.00p -1.70%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 747.40p -1.68%
Halma (HLMA) 2,287.00p -1.68%
Rightmove (RMV) 564.40p -1.57%
