FTSE 100 movers: BT surges on results

30th Jul 2009 14:46

Telecoms giant BT leads the FTSE 100 higher after investors shrugged off a 45% drop in first quarter profits and a jump in its pension deficit of £3bn. Investors were also buoyed by the adjusted EBITDA falling only 3% to £1.37bn, which was ahead of analyst's expectations. But pre-tax profits slid 45% to £272m, weighed by BT Global Services and net finance expenses rising by £153m. Revenue came in at £5.2bn from £5.1bn before, up 1% but down 3% excluding foreign exchange movements and acquisitions Shares in specialist publisher Reed Elsevier tumbled after it announced plans to raise about 10% of its capital through a placing to pay off debts after an acquisition. Reed acquired the operator of the Lexis Nexis news archive system ChoicePoint for $4.1bn and had intended to pay for this with the sale of its business information division, but shelved the plans because of the economic environment. It will place more than 170m shares in London and Amsterdam.BAE Systems fell on an increase in its pension fund deficit by £900m due to a re-evaluation of its assets. Overall, the group made a loss of £70m in the six month ended 30 June compared with a profit of £599m last time.FTSE 100 - RisersBT Group (BT.A) 126.90p +12.60%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 416.50p +10.99%Wolseley (WOS) 1,318.00p +10.76%Lonmin (LMI) 1,360.00p +8.37%Antofagasta (ANTO) 763.50p +7.76%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,466.00p +7.40%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 882.00p +7.10%3i Group (III) 275.00p +7.00%FTSE 100 - FallersReed Elsevier (REL) 421.50p -12.23%BAE Systems (BA.) 310.50p -5.34%Pennon Group (PNN) 452.25p -3.37%Centrica (CNA) 223.50p -3.25%Severn Trent (SVT) 971.00p -2.31%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,113.00p -1.94%National Grid (NG.) 564.50p -1.83%United Utilities Group (UU.) 457.50p -1.51%