FTSE 100 movers: Tesco jumps on results; miners retreat

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,922.95 in afternoon trade on Wednesday. Tesco was the top gainer as it struck a confident tone for the current financial year after reporting a jump in both annual profits and volumes.

On a statutory basis, pre-tax profits surged 159.5% to £2.76bn, with group sales excluding VAT and fuel up 7.2% in the 52 weeks to 24 February to £61.48bn.

Looking ahead, the grocer said it expected retail adjusted operating profit of "at least" £2.8bn for the 2024/25 year. It also forecast retail free cash flow of between £1.4bn and £1.8bn.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Tesco is reaping the benefits of putting the customer first. For some time, it has been lowering prices on core lines in recognition that consumers are under financial pressure. That's helped it to maintain appeal to a large number of shoppers and retain their loyalty while also helping it better compete against Aldi and Lidl. The results are clear to see - profit is going up; the business is in great shape; and it is growing market share.

"A lot of companies have reported a rise in revenue in recent years that's simply been down to raising prices. What's more important is looking at sales volumes as any growth indicates the customer is buying more products rather than simply shelling out more for the same items. Volume growth indicates a healthy business. On this basis, Tesco is fit as a whistle."

Miners were under the cosh, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all down as Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on China to 'negative' on the back of the country's increasingly uncertain economic prospects.

In a note published overnight, the rating agency said it had revised the outlook on China's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) to 'negative' from 'stable'. It affirmed the IDR at 'A+'.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Tesco (TSCO) 302.80p 5.32% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,227.50p 3.28% Croda International (CRDA) 4,818.00p 2.51% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 660.50p 2.45% Ocado Group (OCDO) 389.40p 2.31% Airtel Africa (AAF) 107.10p 1.90% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 269.80p 1.89% Persimmon (PSN) 1,299.00p 1.72% Whitbread (WTB) 3,268.00p 1.68% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,672.00p 1.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,202.00p -2.95% Anglo American (AAL) 2,157.50p -1.55% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 406.00p -1.50% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,504.00p -1.45% Convatec Group (CTEC) 286.00p -1.31% Relx plc (REL) 3,284.00p -1.08% Experian (EXPN) 3,335.00p -1.04% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,602.00p -0.99% Glencore (GLEN) 468.75p -0.90% Fresnillo (FRES) 573.00p -0.87%