Vodafone guides FTSE past pit falls
Vodafone helped steer a recovery today following a heavy fall for the London market in its previous session.
The mobile phone giant climbed 2%, or 3.2p to 158.3p, after it said it had received calls from investors regarding a potential restructuring of the company in an attempt to release more cash to shareholders.
The share price rise helped boost the FTSE 100 Index 29 points to 6551.7, partly recouping losses from Wednesday when the benchmark index dropped more than 100 points.
Currys owner DSG International was on the front foot after it appointed Tesco’s operations development manager John Browett as its new chief executive. The stock was up more than 1%, or 2.6p at 167.4p.
Catalysts-to-chemicals group Johnson Matthey moved in the opposite direction - down 10p at 1618p – despite posting an higher-than-expected 18% rise in underlying annual pre-tax profits coupled with an upbeat outlook statement for the year ahead.
Yorkshire Water owner Kelda was the session’s biggest loser after reports said the company had emerged as one of the most likely candidates to buy Thames Water Services for up to £100 million. Shares were off 23p at 945.5p even as the group reported full year results in line with expectations.
Mining firms were in positive territory, with BHP Billiton up 20p at 1283p, Kazakhmys ahead 14p at 1305p and Antofagasta cheering 5.5p at 567p.
Elsewhere, car parts and cycles retailer Halfords jumped almost 7% after it reported a 9% rise in like-for-like sales and announced a partnership with Olympic champion Chris Boardman for a new range of cycles. Shares rose 25p to 394p.
Low-cost airline easyJet lifted 6.5p to 528p after it delivered solid growth in passenger numbers during May and saw its load factor hit its highest level since January following a raft of fare cuts.
