FTSE 100 movers: Lloyds and RBS climb again

6th Aug 2009 09:26

Part-nationalised banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland rose again on hopes that the worst of the credit crunch write-offs have now passed.Lloyds suggested yesterday that bad debt charges for HBOS's portfolio may have peaked. RBS reports tomorrow and is is being tipped to return to profit of around £1.2bn, helped by gains from asset sales and buy-backs of its bonds. As with Lloyds on Wednesday, the numbers themselves may play second fiddle to what chief executive Stephen Hester says about prospects. Some reports have suggested Hester may throw the kitchen sink in this time with the aim of posting a sustainable improvement in a couple of years time, so a loss could even be possible.Unilever and Aviva are both going very well on better than expected results. Unilever's turnover at the maker of Surf washing powder and Knorr soups in the second quarter of 2009 climbed to €10.46bn from €10.37bn over the same period a year previously. Pre-tax profits slipped to €1.20bn from €1.35bn.Life group Aviva cut its dividend by 31%, but investors focused on the profit after tax of £747m the first six months of 2009 from a loss last year and announced plans for a partial IPO of its Dutch business.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 102.42p +9.89%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 53.00p +8.83%3i Group (III) 299.40p +6.74%Unilever (ULVR) 1,646.00p +6.54%Aviva (AV.) 379.00p +6.37%British Land Co (BLND) 494.50p +6.25%Land Securities Group (LAND) 612.50p +5.79%Barclays (BARC) 355.55p +5.66%FTSE 100 - FallersSevern Trent (SVT) 930.50p -4.81%Antofagasta (ANTO) 728.00p -3.51%Serco Group (SRP) 396.30p -3.01%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 927.00p -2.83%United Utilities Group (UU.) 437.30p -2.82%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 873.50p -2.67%Old Mutual (OML) 93.65p -2.60%Pennon Group (PNN) 450.50p -2.49%