Standard Chartered leads FTSE 100 higher

LONDON: London’s FTSE 100 closed higher on Thursday driven by strong earnings updates from companies including Whitbread and Standard Chartered, although Sainsbury hit the bottom of the index after warning of a drop in annual profit due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The blue-chip index ended 1.1% higher, recording its strongest session in nearly three weeks, while the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.9%.

Standard Chartered jumped 14.2% to the top of the FTSE 100 after the emerging markets-focused lender produced a forecast-beating 6% rise in quarterly profit, benefiting from higher interest rates aimed at controlling inflation.

Smith+Nephew gained 3.4% after the medical products maker topped first-quarter sales estimates, helped by a revival in elective surgeries that were delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whitbread added 4.3% after the Premier Inn owner resumed dividend payments and said its future bookings in leisure and business segments at its British hotels have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“Broadly going through this reporting season, things are coming out pretty much where we want them if not better ... the trouble with looking at the earnings is they’re backwards looking,” said Adrian Gosden, investment director at GAM Investments.

“The energy bills hit the UK consumer in April, that’s when they really got stuck in and so it will take us through to the other side of the summer to get companies to report on the quarter that we’re currently in to see how strong the consumer was in terms of willingness to pay a little bit more for what they wanted.” Bucking the positive mood, Sainsbury’s fell 4.3% after the supermarket group followed market leader Tesco in flagging a lower annual profit due to soaring inflation.

Unilever rose 2.7% after the Dove soap maker reported upbeat quarterly sales as it raised prices by more than 8% to offset higher supply chain and energy costs.

Grafton Group gained 2.9% after the building materials supplier reported a 17.5% rise in revenue.