At 1pm, the FTSE 100 traded 0.4% lower at 7,123 as investors across Europe and the US started to fret about a weakening in the economic outlook. Real estate, healthcare, mining, industrials and financial sectors were all in negative territory.
Value retailer B&M bucked the negative market trend by exciting investors with a bullish trading update. It said first-half results would beat analyst forecasts, sending its shares up 6.8% to 577.2p.
FTSE 100 mining group Anglo American said the value of its diamond sales at De Beers remained broadly steady in the seventh sales cycle of 2021. Rough diamond sales amounted to $515 million, based on provisional numbers. The miner’s shares dipped 0.4% to £30.85.
Engineering group Smiths receive a $2.4 billion offer for its medical business from ICU Medical, with the bidder having trumped a rival $2 billion offer from TA Associates. The shares advanced 3% to £14.64.
Waste management group Biffa said its revenue had risen 12% year-on-year in the first five months of its financial year, though it noted it was facing a shortage of drivers. Revenue for the five months through August was up 3% excluding acquisitions, it added. The shares fell 5.7% to 381p.
Homeware retailer Dunelm booked a 45% rise in annual profit, declared a special dividend and upgraded its guidance as demand held up throughout the pandemic. Pre-tax profit for the year through 26 June increased to £157.8 million, up from £109.1 million year-on-year, as sales climbed 26% to £1.34 billion. It advanced 13.2% to £14.55.
Rubber products supplier Avon Protection said it had won a contract worth up to $87.6 million over two years to develop and supply the US Army with integrated head protection system. The contract replaced the next-generation IHPS contract announced on 24 September 2020, which was withdrawn following a competitor protest. Avon’s shares ticked up 2.1% to £18.15.
Concrete-levelling group Somero Enterprises posted a large rise in first-half profit and upgraded its annual guidance, citing a ‘very strong and highly active’ US market. Pre-tax profit for the six months through June increased to $23.5 million, up from $7.5 million year-on-year, as revenue jumped 82% to $64.4 million. Somero advanced 13.6% to 533.75p.
