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The FTSE 100 was held back in its latest attempt to make the 10,000 summit by some shares trading ex-dividend and some poorly received corporate updates.
This outweighed the tailwind provided by a weaker pound, which flatters the overseas earnings which dominate the index, and saw the FTSE 100 dip slightly in early trading on Thursday. Sterling fell thanks to weaker than expected UK growth figures for September.
An end to the government shutdown in the US was followed by gains for gold and silver which, in turn, boosted precious metals miners in London.
Aviva
The market seems underwhelmed by Aviva’s latest update and in particular its three-year targets for the business.
This does follow a strong showing for the shares so far in 2025 so a pause for breath is understandable – particularly given evidence of strong competition in the bulk purchase annuity market, where insurers take over the running of corporate pension schemes.
This is a profitable area but an increasingly crowded market and that was reflected in a meaningful drop in sales.
Otherwise, the integration of Direct Line continues to motor along as the company continues to up the expected synergies from the deal.
3i Group
The fortunes of private equity investor 3i are heavily tied to Action, with the company continuing to increase its stake in the Dutch discount retail chain.
This has largely been a good news story for the group as Action has achieved significant growth in recent years.
However, today’s numbers were a little short of expectations. The company warning of an uncertain backdrop will raise concerns about the outlook for Action and its wider portfolio.
Burberry
Burberry shares have been enjoying a recovery rally over recent months as the company pursues its turnaround strategy, so the muted reaction to today’s trading update is no great surprise.
However, that shouldn’t diminish the significance of a first increase in quarterly sales in two years and a return to growth in China, a key part of the Burberry growth story over the last decade or so.
It demonstrates the progress chief executive Joshua Schulman is making with the major restructuring launched since his appointment in July 2024.
Following the usual playbook, this has involved significant cost cutting but also a return to focus on its traditional strengths in products like trench coats and scarves.
Rolls-Royce
Even a slight upgrade to full-year guidance is not enough of a tailwind to sustain a Rolls-Royce share price which is trading at a record high.
CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç has led one of the most spectacular recovery efforts in UK corporate history since joining Rolls-Royce at the beginning of 2023. He won the market over with tough talk about the business being a burning platform and he has delivered tangible progress since too.
This is perhaps most evident in the drastic improvement in free cash flow, which is on track to go from £505 million in 2022 to around £3 billion for 2025 – despite some niggly supply chain issues.
His progress has been rewarded with a 1,140% total return, comfortably the best performance of any company on the FTSE 100 over that period.
Some of that has been driven by the recovery in the aviation sector, with increased flying hours boosting the lucrative spares and repairs revenue Rolls-Royce achieves on its large installed base of engines.
Investors may now be asking what’s next from the company as it looks to sustain the momentum – evidence of growth in data centres may offer some encouragement given the growth in this space associated with AI.
The cat was already out of the bag on news Rolls-Royce is to site its first three small modular nuclear reactors in Anglesey so the official announcement this morning didn’t energise the stock.
Endeavour Mining
If you were in any doubt about how good life is right now for gold miners then the latest quarterly numbers from Endeavour Mining would have blasted that away.
The company’s cash flow has exploded allowing it to really turn up the dial with regard to dividends and pay down debt significantly.
Even the slight negative around higher costs is largely a reflection of increased royalties tied to the buoyant gold price.
Barratt Redrow
When a finance chief at a company leaves with immediate effect, the market is always going to be a bit nervous and that’s the case at Barratt Redrow this morning.
The housebuilder is at pains to say the group is in a strong financial position, it notes trading is in line with its recent update earlier this month and chief financial officer Mike Scott will be around until the start of next year to help with the transition.
This seems to have been enough to spare the share price from a heavier sell-off. However, there are still unanswered questions arising from this news which have clearly made investors at least slightly twitchy.
Russ Mould: Investment Director
Russ Mould is AJ Bell's Investment Director. He has a Master's degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford and more than 30 years' experience of the capital markets.
He started out at Scottish...
