FTSE 100 movers: Aviva leads the way higher on turnaround strategy

16th May 2013 14:39

Insurance group Aviva, was leading the risers after it said it is delivering on its turnaround strategy. The company's pro-forma value of new business, a key measure of its growth, was up 18% in the first quarter at £191m from £162m the year before, driven by improved profitability in UK life insurance as well as growth in its Asian businesses. TUI Travel was also on the up, one day after Tui AG announced that it has no plans to merge with it. RBS was up on plans axe a further 1,400 jobs from its retail banking head office to slash costs. The bank will reduce its headcount over the next two years with Edinburgh offices expected to take the biggest hit. Wood Group, the energy services giant, continued higher one day after it said at its annual general meeting that it is confident of achieving full year performance in line with expectations. Meanwhile, Associated British Foods was making strong gains, perhaps partially linked with the easing of a drought which had been affecting one of its subsidiaries. Miners on the whole were leading the downside this morning with Fresnillo, EVRAZ, ENRC, Polymetal and Randgold firmly out of favour as metals prices declined. Utilities group National Grid failed to excite the markets with a solid increase in full-year profits. Analysts at Societe Generale said this morning that the share-price debate is now "more focused on valuation than earnings" after a strong rise so far this year. FTSE 100 - RisersAviva (AV.) 348.80p +7.95%TUI Travel (TT.) 369.00p +3.83%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 314.10p +2.31%William Hill (WMH) 445.10p +2.11%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 274.40p +2.01%BT Group (BT.A) 318.20p +1.79%Whitbread (WTB) 2,748.00p +1.74%Sage Group (SGE) 357.90p +1.62%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 814.00p +1.56%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 115.20p +1.50%FTSE 100 - FallersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,941.00p -4.43%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,074.00p -4.11%Polymetal International (POLY) 632.00p -3.44%Evraz (EVR) 154.00p -3.21%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 289.60p -3.05%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,327.00p -2.57%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 806.00p -2.42%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,849.50p -2.21%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,696.00p -2.17%National Grid (NG.) 827.50p -2.01%NR