London’s index of leading shares rises 22.7 points in early trading to 6,455 after the market welcomes the sacking of Barclays (BARC) chief executive Antony Jenkins.
The bank’s shares gain 3.3% to 260.4p after Jenkins left following disagreements with the board over Barclays’ direction. Executive chairman John McFarlane takes over until a permanent replacement is found.
Beer brewing behemoth and running Play of the Week SABMiller (SAB) improves 27p to £32.96 after appointing acting numbers man Domenic De Lorenzo as finance director.
Food wholesaler Booker (BOK) edges 0.9p higher to 167.2p despite posting a subdued first quarter trading update showing meagre like-for-like sales growth of 0.4%. The good news is Booker, whose £40 million Londis and Budgens acquisition is under review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), insists it 'remains on course' to meet full-year profit forecasts.
High-end tonic water supplier Fevertree Drinks (FEVR:AIM) fizzes 8.4% higher to 314.4p as it saysfull-year results will smash expectations following a strong first half of 2015. For more on Fevertree, check out our report on the beverages sector here.
Housebuilder and property developer Abbey (ABBY) climbs 4% to 920p on the back of a strong preliminary statement for the year which sees profit before tax at the £190.5 million cap more than doubling to €49.1 million in the year to the end of April.
Asia-focused investment trusts take a beating amid a huge sell-off in Chinese equities. The biggest faller on the FTSE 350 is unsurprisingly Fidelity’s China Special Situations (FFCC) fund. Suspensions of shares in a number of companies listed in mainland China, as well as falling general markets, sees the fund cheapen 9.2% to 124p. Emerging markets-focused asset manager Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) is also hit by falling Asian markets overnight, shedding 2.8% to 412p. Fidelity China (FCSS) drops 11% to 121.4%, closely followed by JPMorgan Chinese (JMC) which is down 7.4% to 156.5p.
Banks with interests in the region also suffered. HSBC (HSBA) drops 1.6% to 549.4p, while Standard Chartered (STAN) falls 1.3% to 984.9p.
North Sea E&P Independent Oil & Gas (IOG:AIM) is up 16% to 17.4p as it expects to conclude its financing arrangement with a larger partner by 31 July and will receive overdue funds of £145,000 on 17 July. The long-term plan will see the new partner acquire 29.9% of the group through a premium share subscription - which will deliver a £7.1 million cash injection for Independent - with debt financing following two months later. The group is already in talks over securing a rig to drill its Skipper and Cronx prospects.
Heading in the other direction is Azonto Petroleum (AZO:AIM) which sinks 49.3% to 0.15p after revealing late last night that it plans to delistfrom AIM and sell off assets in the Ivory Coast.
US unconventionals play Empyrean Energy (EME:AIM) is up 12.3% to 6.6p as an independent audit by DeGolyer & MacNaughton reveals a major upgrade to the proved and probable (2P) reserves associated with its Sugarloaf project in Texas. 2P reserves are up 94% to 12.64 million barrels of oil equivalent following a successful appraisal of the Austin Chalk reservoir.
Premier African Minerals (PREM:AIM) rises 7.7% to 2.53p after saying that its RHA tungsten mine start-up is going well. Better than expected concentrate grades has prompted the miner to upgradeits plant to improve efficiency and capacity utilisation.
Failed mining investor Red Rock Resources (RRR) slumps 23% to 0.05p after issuing new shares at a 21% discount to last night's closing price. The small cap is turning its attention the oil and gas space by investing in a West African explorer called Elephant.
