Shares in engineering giant Melrose Industries soared after it provided investors with some much-needed reassurance.
The FTSE 100 group, which owns parts maker GKN Aerospace, said revenues rose 7 per cent in the four months to the end of October.
Business was boosted by so-called ‘aftermarket’ work which includes repairs to engines on fighter jets as well as commercial airliners.
Take-off: Melrose, which owns parts maker GKN Aerospace, said revenues rose 7% in the four months to the end of October
The company, which spun off its car unit and other businesses last year to become a pure-play aerospace supplier, kept its full-year profit forecasts unchanged at between £550million and £570million.
Shares rose 7.6 per cent, or 37.1p, to 526.6p – but remain down around 6 per cent this year having fallen sharply following the publication of disappointing half-year results over the summer.
Production delays at crisis-stricken plane maker Boeing and rival Airbus have taken their toll across the aerospace industry this year.
But in a boost to Melrose, it has forced airlines to keep flying older planes, increasing demand for the aftermarket services and parts it provides.
Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said: ‘There will be genuine relief at a lack of further downgrades at aerospace business Melrose after its warning this summer.’
The FTSE 100 added 0.6 per cent, or 45.71 points, to 8109.32 and the FTSE 250 fell by 0.4 per cent, or 81.23 points, to 20395.41.
Having peaked at $93,480 last week, bitcoin slipped back below $90,000. The cryptocurrency has been one of the big winners since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
AstraZeneca received a much-needed boost after its Tagrisso drug was approved by the EU for adults with a type of lung cancer.
The drug has already been approved in countries including the US, China and Japan.
Shares in the company, which have lost around a quarter of their value in recent weeks amid concerns over its operations in China, slid 0.6 per cent, or 63p, to 9915p.
Paul Waterman has bowed to shareholder pressure and agreed to step down as chief executive of FTSE 250 chemicals company Elementis after nine years in the job.
Activist investor Gatemore Capital has been calling for Waterman to be replaced having complained the company has suffered from ‘self-inflicted management failures’.
Elementis shares inched down 0.4 per cent, or 0.6p, to 134.4p.
Shares in budget store chain B&M slumped 8.1 per cent, or 30.5p, to a two-year low of 347.9p after analysts at RBC cut their price target to 500p from 550p.
There was no respite for housebuilder Vistry. Brokers at Barclays cut their target for the stock to 615p from 896p. Shares fell 5.6pc, or 39p, to 660p, the lowest level since July 2023.
The shares have more than halved in value since early September as investors stay away following a recent warning that profits will be far lower than expected after the company underestimated the cost of developing certain projects.
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