MARKET REPORT: Reckitt cleans up but Footsie misses profits

On a toss-up day, Reckitt Benckiser was among the winners as Footsie set a new record before giving up his winnings.

The FTSE 100 hit 8,092 before ending the day down 0.06 per cent, or 4.43 points, to 8,040.38, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.4 per cent, or 80.35 points. , to 19,719.37.

Reckitt led the way after reporting continued demand for hygiene and health products.

The consumer goods group behind Dettol and Nurofen said sales rose 1.5 per cent to £3.7bn in the first quarter.

The group’s revenue is expected to rise between 2 and 4 per cent this year, and the shares rose 2.9 per cent, or 124 pence, to 4,374 pence.

Hipgnosis (up 0.4 per cent, or 0.4p, to 101.4p) will be in the spotlight after US music rights firm Concord increased its offer to more than £1.2bn in a bidding war with private equity giant Blackstone.

Hipgnosis, whose song catalogs include Blondie and Beyonce, backed the offer, having previously accepted Blackstone’s offer.

Sensodyne toothpaste maker Haleon has poached Dawn Allen, chief financial officer of ingredients maker Tate & Lyle. The shares fell 1 per cent, or 3.2p, to 329.6p.

Haleon’s second-largest shareholder, GSK, got a boost after US regulators agreed to look at whether using the company’s drug with chemotherapy can help treat women with endometrial cancer. The shares fell 0.9 per cent, or 15 pence, to 1,636 pence.

Cancer diagnostics company Angle has secured a £150,000 deal with AstraZeneca to help the pharmaceutical giant in the research and development of oncology treatments, increasing it by 26.5 per cent, or 3.25p, to 15.5p .

Stock Watch – Warpaint London

Cosmetics brand Warpaint London saw record sales and profits when its makeup disappeared from the shelves of high street chains.

Sales soared 40 per cent to £89.6m last year, while profits more than doubled to £18.1m.

Its flagship brand, W7, launched in 71 Superdrug stores last year and 100 Boots stores this month.

And more than 200 Morrisons stores began stocking Warpaint’s Technic makeup in March. The shares gained 4.3 per cent, or 20 pence, to 490 pence.

Wealth manager Quilter added 3.6 per cent, or 3.7 pence, to 106.2 pence after assets under management rose 5 per cent to £111.6 billion in the quarter to March 31st.

Metals prices recovered, lifting mining stocks: Rio Tinto rose 2.5 per cent, or 133 pence, to 5,450 pence, Glencore gained 1.2 per cent, or 5.6 pence, to 474.1 pence and Anglo American rose 4.5 per cent, or 94 pence, to 2,205 pence.

Ukrainian miner Ferrexpo reported its best quarterly performance since the Russian invasion more than two years ago, but fell 2.3 per cent, or 1.2 pence, to 51 pence.

Hochschild Mining is on track to meet forecasts after a positive first quarter with the start of operations at a mine in Brazil.

It rose 3.6 per cent, or 5.4p, to 156.8p. Fresnillo, Mexico’s biggest gold producer, rose 0.4 percent, or 2 pence, to 580.5 pence despite a drop in production.

A broker downgrade saw Ocado fall 3.5 per cent, or 13.2p, to 364.6p.

Jet2 fell 5.9 per cent, or 88 pence, to 1,400 pence, after the airline and package travel company cut its annual profit forecast. Chemicals group Croda’s sales fell 10 per cent to £409m in the first three months of the year, sending the shares down 4.8 per cent, or 234p, to 4,654p.

Building materials group Breedon, which fell 4.1 per cent, or 15.5 pence, to 364.5 pence, said heavy rain in Britain caused a 9 per cent drop in revenue.

Sanderson Design said trading was likely to remain difficult as the luxury interiors group’s revenue fell 3 per cent to £108.6m in the year to January 31, while profits fell by 5.4 per cent to £10.4 million.

It fell 4.3 per cent, or 4.4p, to 98.6p.