FTSE 100 movers: Schroders rallies; Rentokil falls on results

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 8,698.98 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Schroders rose to the top of the index as it announced a plan to deliver £150m of annualised cost savings alongside its full-year results.

Admiral was also a high riser as the insurer posted a surge in full-year profit, attributing much of the strength to its UK motor business.

In the year to the end of December, pre-tax profit jumped 90% to £839.2m, with group turnover 28% higher at £6.15bn and insurance revenue up 37% at £4.78bn.

Earnings per share rose to 216.6p from 111.2p and the company declared a dividend of 192p per share, up 86%.

Group customer numbers grew 14% to 11.10 million, while UK insurance customer numbers were up 19% to 8.80m. The number of international insurance customers dipped 3% to 2.10m.

The UK motor division saw a 15% jump in customer numbers, "driven by reducing prices ahead of the market around the start of the year, after a period of prices moving higher to address significant claims cost inflation in the past few years".

Reckitt Benckiser gained as the consumer goods firm unveiled plans for a reorganisation of its divisions and said it was looking at opportunities for Mead Johnson Nutrition after a mixed 2024, as fourth-quarter sales missed estimates.

Melrose Industries was under the cosh even as it said that full-year profit came in at the top end of expectations despite industry-wide supply chain issues.

Rentokil fell as it reported a drop in full-year profit, citing a "challenging" year and a weaker performance in North America.

LondonMetric and HSBC were in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Schroders (SDR) 422.00p 10.99% Admiral Group (ADM) 3,038.00p 4.72% WPP (WPP) 630.60p 3.34% Spirax Group (SPX) 7,455.00p 2.83% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,900.00p 2.51% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,864.00p 2.39% Mondi (MNDI) 1,288.50p 2.26% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,500.00p 2.11% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,290.00p 2.01% Barclays (BARC) 309.15p 1.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 563.20p -17.18% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 347.70p -10.39% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 172.20p -5.23% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 884.70p -4.71% Compass Group (CPG) 2,599.00p -4.45% Informa (INF) 784.40p -4.34% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 10,935.00p -3.91% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 362.90p -3.64% Pearson (PSON) 1,289.50p -3.44% Unite Group (UTG) 788.00p -3.13%