FTSE 100 movers: Halma gains on acquisition; BAT slumps

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 9,690.54 in afternoon trade on Friday. Halma rose as the safety equipment and technology group announced the £230m acquisition of E2S Group, a London-based manufacturer of industrial hazard detection devices.

On the downside, BP and Shell both gushed lower even as oil prices held steady.

British American Tobacco fell ahead of a full-year pre-close trading update next Tuesday.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that at the last check, it was heading to the top of its 1-2% revenue growth guidance range, helped by an improving performance in its US business.

"Consensus forecasts are expecting a slightly better growth outcome at 2.1% before currency movements," he said

"There's still some way to go for BATS to return to its medium-term target of 3-5% growth. Tobacco volumes remain in decline, and next-generation products such as vapes are not proving to be the saviour the industry was looking for. Investors will be hoping for an improvement from the low-single-digit growth uplift seen by the New Categories division in the first half.

"The balance sheet has also been under some pressure. It's important that net debt is brought down to fit more comfortably into the group's 2.0-2.5x underlying cash profit (EBITDA) target range. Especially if regular share buybacks are to be supported."

Equipment rental firm Ashtead was also in the red ahead of second-quarter numbers on Tuesday.