FTSE 100 movers: HSBC gains ahead of results; BT hit by downgrade

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,782.89 in afternoon trade on Tuesday. HSBC was among the top gainers ahead of annual results on Wednesday.

InterContinental Hotels was in the red despite posting a rise in full-year profits, lifting its dividend, and announcing a $900m share buyback programme and the acquisition of the Ruby brand for $116m.

BT Group slumped as Citi downgraded its stance on the shares to 'sell' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 112p from 200p as it said that Openreach was facing a revenue decline.

"We forecast Openreach turning to revenue decline in 2025/26 and staying there for the rest of the decade, which could see a negative shift in sentiment and questions as to whether BT will achieve its guidance for £3bn of normalised free cash flow by the end of the decade (Citi 2029/30E £2.3bn)," the bank said.

"We also have concerns around the sustainability of BT Consumer's pricing dynamic in the long-term, and based on our in-depth consensus tracker analysis, we also believe that consensus is overoptimistic in expecting restructuring specific item costs to reduce significantly in the next few years (Citi 2025/26E £401m versus consensus £250m)."

Citi also said it was adding BT to its focus list.

Airtel Africa was also weaker after a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' by Citi.

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,784.00p 2.31% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 896.60p 1.74% Halma (HLMA) 2,997.00p 1.63% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,188.00p 1.49% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 644.00p 1.35% Croda International (CRDA) 3,243.00p 1.34% St James's Place (STJ) 1,147.00p 1.24% GSK (GSK) 1,436.50p 1.20% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 444.10p 1.16% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 340.00p 1.16%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 10,225.00p -4.39% BT Group (BT.A) 145.05p -4.29% Tesco (TSCO) 383.90p -3.30% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 253.00p -3.21% Airtel Africa (AAF) 139.80p -2.24% Centrica (CNA) 133.75p -1.91% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 351.80p -1.87% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,427.00p -1.86% Kingfisher (KGF) 252.30p -1.60% SSE (SSE) 1,474.50p -1.50%