FTSE flat despite vaccine approval

Writer,

Archived article

Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

Vaccine news failed to move the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, by midday the index was flat at 6,386,09, suggesting the market had already priced the latest developments in.

The UK became the first country in the world to approve the use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with first doses expected to be rolled out next week.

G4S jumped 7.3% to 245.6p after US rival GardaWorld upped its takeover offer for the security services group to to 235p a share, valuing it at around £3.68 billion.

G4S had been fighting an initial hostile bid from GardaWorld of 190p per share.

Supermarket group Tesco slipped 1.6% to 225.2p on announcing that it would pay back £585 million to the UK government that had been offered in the form of tax relief due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tesco said it had decided to pay back the business rates relief because its operations had proven resilient and some potential risks had passed.

Budget carrier Ryanair descended 0.7%, having carried 82% less passengers during the month of November, as the pandemic continued to crunch demand for travel.

Rival low-cost carrier Wizz Air was flat at £45.76 as its November passenger volumes dived 85%.

Office hire group IWG dropped 6.9% to 327.2p after it launched a £300 million convertible bond offering to shore up its balance sheet while many people continue to avoid offices and work from home.

IWG said the funds would allow it to capitalise on acquisition opportunities and 'retain a strong financial position in the current market environment'.

Stiff drink purveyor Stock Spirits climbed 8.6% to 264p even as it posted a 22% fall in annual profit after rising revenue was offset by writedowns on its Italian brands and an Irish whiskey business.

Stock Spirits's underlying operating profit, however, improved 6% as the company sold more vodka and other spirits into its key markets of Poland and the Czech Republic. The company lifted its dividend 6.8% to 9.55c per share.

Cyber security group NCC rallied 5.7% to 214.5p on guiding for full-year adjusted operating earnings around the upper end of market expectations.

The market consensus range for NCC's adjusted earnings before interest and tax was currently £24.5 million to £33.3 million.

Performance nutrition company Science In Sport jumped 6.3% to 30.3p, paring earlier larger gains, on announcing that it expected to swing to a positive underlying annual earnings performance, driven by sales in its online business.

Cyber security software supplier Osirium Technologies soared 10% to 22.6p after it won a 'major' contract from a UK telecom group and said it expected its annual bookings to beat market expectations.

Payments platform Boku gained 2% to 125p as it upgraded its annual earnings outlook, citing 'continued strong trading' and pandemic-related cost savings.