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Capita shares hit as profits fall Johnson Matthey jumps 15% after revealing battery plan
(about 5 hours later)
Shares in Capita fell more than 10% after the outsourcing group reported lower profits and gave a weaker than expected forecast. A big rise in the value of shares in the specialist metals and chemicals firm Johnson Matthey was the highlight of the London stock market on Thursday.
The FTSE 250 member saw half-year pre-tax profits drop 26% to £28m, after it sold its specialist recruitment arm and shut down its events operation. Its shares closed 15% higher at £4.32 after it announced plans to invest £200m in developing batteries for electric cars.
Excluding one-off measures, underlying pre-tax profits jumped 46% to £195m. The firm said this might lead to more than $30bn in sales when battery driven cars accounted for 10% of all vehicles.
However, Capita said this measure was only expected to "rise modestly" in the second half of the year. The FTSE 100 index closed eight points lower at 7,264.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index struggled for direction throughout the morning, and shortly after midday it was up by just 1.34 points at 7,273.29. In the FTSE 250 market shares in the outsourcing group Capita fell 12% to £5.70 after it reported lower profits and gave a weaker than expected forecast.
Johnson Matthey was the top riser in the FTSE 100, surging 9% after it confirmed it expected sales would grow by about 6% this year. The company said half-year pre-tax profits had fallen by 26% to £28m, after it sold its specialist recruitment arm and shut down its events operation.
The company also announced it was investing an initial £200m to develop its battery material technology business. It expects the market to grow rapidly as electric cars become more widespread. However, it said that "underlying" profits were expected to "rise modestly" in the second half of the year.
Shares in Irish building materials firm CRH rose 2.7% after it announced plans to buy US cement maker Ash Grove Cement in a $3.5bn (£2.6bn) deal. Shares in Irish building materials firm CRH rose 2.4% after it agreed to buy the US cement maker Ash Grove Cement for $3.5bn (£2.6bn), in order to expand in North America.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.3474 and slipped 0.1% against the euro to 1.1331 euros. On the currency markets, the pound rose 0.5% against the dollar to $1.357 and was barely changed at 1.136 euros.