FTSE 100 movers: Rentokil surges; Entain under the cosh

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,694.58 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Rentokil surged to the top of the index as it reported a rise in full-year profit and revenue as it benefited from the acquisition of Terminix in the US. Full-year 2023 adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 43.8% to £766m, with revenues up 44.7% at £5.4bn.

Organic revenue grew 4.9%, supported by strong performances in Europe, Asia, Pacific, UK and LATAM, Rentokil said.

Spirax-Sarco was also a higher riser after saying it was well-positioned to return to growth in 2024.

Beazley gained as it announced plans to return cash to shareholders after annual profits at the Lloyds' of London insurer topped $1bn.

Entain was under the cosh as the Ladbrokes owner said full-year results were in line with expectations, with underlying earnings hitting the £1bn mark and record-high online customers, but warned of the significant impact from regulatory changes which will dampen profits in 2024.

HSBC was weaker as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Melrose lost ground despite lifting its profit outlook for this year and posting a jump in 2023 profit.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 506.20p 18.13% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,900.00p 6.13% Ocado Group (OCDO) 458.40p 4.68% Anglo American (AAL) 1,841.80p 4.21% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 327.90p 3.83% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,797.50p 3.22% Croda International (CRDA) 4,823.00p 2.99% BT Group (BT.A) 110.00p 2.90% Beazley (BEZ) 669.00p 2.45% Glencore (GLEN) 398.50p 2.40%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 787.80p -5.13% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 589.40p -3.69% Standard Chartered (STAN) 662.40p -2.24% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,094.00p -1.70% Melrose Industries (MRO) 621.80p -1.61% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,198.00p -1.51% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,015.00p -1.18% Next (NXT) 8,320.00p -1.14% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 115.70p -1.11% Airtel Africa (AAF) 96.05p -0.98%