FTSE 100 movers: William Hill and RBS disappoint with H1 figures

2nd Aug 2013 15:04

Shares in William Hill sank sharply on Friday morning as investors gave a cool reaction to the High Street bookie's first-half results, in which pre-tax profits came in flat year-on-year. The firm also didn't give an update on current trading, though analysts at Canaccord Genuity said that July will have been more challenging on gross win margins (though this is a "small" month).Royal Bank of Scotland was also a heavy faller after missing profit forecasts in the first half. The bank reported a clean profit before tax before non-recurring items of £676m for the second quarter, down from £747m in the first three months and well below the consensus forecast of £880m. RBS also confirmed reports that Ross McEwan would take over as Chief Executive Officer from Stephen Hester. Sector peer Barclays, which reported its own results on Tuesday, was also trading lower today. Mining stocks were out of favour as metal prices weakened: Fresnillo, Randgold and Antofagasta were all in the red. Vedanta Resources was also lower after suffering a shareholder revolt over its pay at its annual meeting on Thursday. Leading the upside was airline IAG after a high-flying second quarter which beat forecasts by a mile. The company reported an operating profit of €245m in the three months to June 30th, up from a loss of €4.0m the year before and well ahead of the €163m consensus estimate.Drinks can maker Rexam wasn't far behind after upping its interim dividend by 14% despite profits being held back by high aluminium and labour costs in the first half.FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 310.70p +4.58%Rexam (REX) 515.50p +1.88%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 226.30p +1.66%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,237.00p +1.54%easyJet (EZJ) 1,448.00p +1.19%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 490.00p +1.01%Persimmon (PSN) 1,254.00p +0.97%Amec (AMEC) 1,089.00p +0.93%CRH (CRH) 1,417.00p +0.85%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 793.00p +0.70%FTSE 100 - FallersWilliam Hill (WMH) 459.10p -7.16%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 317.70p -4.74%Aggreko (AGK) 1,576.00p -4.08%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,043.00p -3.78%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,737.00p -3.60%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,292.00p -3.58%Barclays (BARC) 284.10p -2.40%Antofagasta (ANTO) 892.50p -2.30%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,356.00p -1.81%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 832.00p -1.71%BC