Burberry management reshuffle weighs on FTSE 100
The blue chip index was broadly flat in early deals, weighed down by luxury brand Burberry.
This morning it announced a management shake-up, creating a new chief operating officer role and replacing its chief financial officer. Shares dropped 3.8 per cent in early deals.
Investment manager Hargreaves Lansdown fell 2.25 per cent, after rallying more than 10 per cent yesterday on the back of a strong earnings update. It fell 2.26 per cent in early trades this morning.
Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources was down 1.8 per cent, after a boost on the FTSE yesterday from its fourth quarter production numbers.
On the wider index, FTSE 250 explorer Ophir Energy sank 8.5 per cent, despite announcing today that results from its appraisal programme on a well in Tanzania had been a success.
Topping the FTSE leader board in early deals was telecoms group Vodafone, rising almost two per cent. This morning it posted a fall in organic service revenue in the fourth quarter, weighed down by Southern European customers making fewer calls.
Holiday firm Tui Travel was up 1.3 per cent, as it said it expected to deliver full-year profit at the top of its guidance.
Outside of the blue chips, pub group Punch Taverns soared more than 32 per cent. Investors reacted positively to news that it had identified a number of restructuring solutions for its debt.
UK banking shares had a mixed showing in early deals. HSBC fell 0.65 per cent, RBS was down 0.67 per cent, while Barclays was up 0.32 per cent and Lloyds Banking Group was up 0.62 per cent.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 0.93 per cent and in the US the Dow Jones closed up 0.05 per cent.