FTSE 100 movers: Astrazeneca hit by rival success, Centrica higher on takeover preparations
LONDON (ShareCast) - Astrazeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) was trading lower after the results of a study showed US rival Merck (Other OTC: MKGAF - news) 's diabetes drug met heart-safety requirements. The British drug-maker's own treatment for the disease was recently required by US authorities to provide information about the risk of heart failure. Standard Chartered (Other OTC: SCBFF - news) was in the red as it published sinking total revenues, which fell 4% to $4.4bn, a 6% miss against consensus forecasts of $4.7bn "We think that STAN's Q1 2015 IMS offers a preview of the unpalatable impact of planned de-leveraging," Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) said in a note.
Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) surged as its chairman was quoted saying the company has made preparations in the event of a takeover offer.
BP was trading higher despite posting an underlying replacement cost profit decline for the three months to end-March. In Tuesday's trading statement, the oil giant said profit for the last quarter came in at $2.6bn compared with $3.2bn for the same period in 2014.
Costa Cofee and Premier Inn owner Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) made gains as it served up impressive results for the year to 26 February. Revenue rose and underlying profits before tax were both higher, leading to a 19.4% increase in earnings to 213.67p per share, well ahead of the consensus forecast.
Wealth management group St James's Place was among the risers as it posted a 22% increase in funds under management to £55.8bn in its latest interim statement.
Risers Fresnillo (FRES) 739.50p +1.65% Centrica (CNA) 273.00p +1.45% Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) (AAL) 1,116.00p +1.13% BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) (BLT) 1,585.00p +1.02% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 552.50p +0.91% Glencore (GLEN) 313.50p +0.42% SSE (SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) ) 1,593.00p +0.31% 3i Group (III) 512.50p +0.29% BP (BP.) 478.10p +0.25% Old Mutual (Other OTC: ODMTY - news) (OML) 230.70p +0.13% Fallers Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,082.00p -3.00% AstraZeneca (Swiss: AZN.SW - news) (AZN) 4,568.00p -2.92% Babcock International Group (BAB (Other OTC: BABB - news) ) 994.50p -2.88% St James's Place (STJ) 881.50p -2.76% Whitbread (WTB) 5,300.00p -2.57% Aviva (AV.) 522.50p -2.43% Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV.L - news) (BDEV) 524.00p -2.42% Carnival (CCL) 3,087.00p -2.25% Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,252.00p -2.08% Persimmon (PSN) 1,725.00p -1.99%