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FTSE closes sharply down
StockMarketWire.com
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The FTSE 100 resumed its downward trend on Thursday falling 1.5% to 6,715 points as profit warnings and the collapse of airline FlyBe rattled investors.
By the close there were just three stocks in positive territory: Vodafone, British American Tobacco, and Reckitt Benckiser.
Broadcaster ITV was one of the biggest fallers, dropping 11% to 103p after it warned advertising revenue would fall 10% in April as the spread of the coronavirus weighed on travel companies' marketing spend.
The firm's pre-tax profits for last year were 11.5% lower despite revenues from ITV studios increasing by 9%.
Travel firms International Consolidated Airlines, which owns British Airways, and TUI were also big losers down 5% and 7% respectively.
TUI was one of three stocks earmarked for demotion from the index later this month, along with DIY retailer Kingfisher and struggling UAE-based clinic operator NMC Health whose shares are still suspended.
Asset management group Schroders dipped 4% to £27.7 despite seeing assets under management rise by 23% in 2019 to reach a new high of £500bn.
The company's pre-tax profit for the period was £701.2m, while net new business reached £43.4bn.
Shares in insurer Aviva finished just in positive territory, up 0.5% to 351.9p after gaining as much as 4% earlier in the session.
The firm reported record operating profits of £2.3bn last year thanks to healthy UK annuity sales and a strong performance from its investment business.
Mid-cap communications equipment-maker Spirent was a rare gainer, up 17.2% to 249p after it reported better 2019 revenues driven by demand of 400G high-speed ethernet and a higher win rate with US defence contractors for GNSS positioning products.
Adjust operating profits increased 20% during the year, with an improved operating margin of 18.4%.
Shares in outsourcer Capita tumbled 37% to 79.4p after it reported a sharp increase in net debt last year and said it needed to invest more than previously thought in its restructuring plan.
Adjusted net debt rose from £466m to £790m although on an unadjusted number the figure was £1.35bn compared with the firm's market capitalisation of £2.8bn before today's fall.
Revenues and orders declined last year, while chief executive Jon Lewis admitted that 'transforming an organisation of Capita's size is a complex challenge, there remains more to do and it is requiring more investment than we had expected.'
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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