Bad days for AstraZeneca and SSE weighed on the FTSE 100 on Thursday as the businesses disappointed shareholders with updates in the morning.
SSE flagged that it was facing delays to its Dogger Bank A wind farm, part of what is going to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The company fell to the second lowest point in the index.
Meanwhile Astra’s shares plummeted by 6.36% after the business reported a set of fourth quarter numbers which were lower than expected. Its 897 million dollar (£710 million) profit before tax disappointed shareholders as analysts had been expecting more.
“A big drop for AstraZeneca has wiped 40 points off the FTSE 100 today, with the result that the index has been left behind as other European markets make headway today,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
“Astra’s poor performance since the summer has been a key driver for the FTSE 100’s inability to keep up with its peers, and today’s numbers suggest that weight will continue for the time being.”
The FTSE 100 fell 33.27 points, or 0.44%, to end the day at 7,595.48.
At the end of the day in Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index rose 0.25% while the Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.71%.
In New York a little while after markets had closed in Europe, the S&P 500 was trading down 0.08% while the Dow Jones was 0.25% lower.
On currency markets the pound was trading 0.07% lower against the dollar at 1.2618 and had dropped 0.09% against the euro at 1.1711.
In company news, shares in DS Smith closed up 11.82% after the business revealed that it had been approached by fellow packing firm Mondi about a possible takeover.
Mondi, whose shares fell 3.26%, has expressed early interest in a deal which would create a £10 billion packaging giant but no offer has yet been made.
Elsewhere, shares in British American Tobacco jumped 7.12% despite swinging to a £17.1 billion pre-tax loss in 2023, from a £9.3 billion profit the year before.
The loss came after the company wrote down the value of its US brands by £27.3 billion.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were DS Smith, up 27.5p to 308.6p, British American Tobacco, up 165p to 2,484p, Smurfit Kappa, up 158p to 3,130p, Unilever, up 123p to 4,024.5p, and Diploma, up 96p to 3,386p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were AstraZeneca, down 667p to 9,823p, SSE, down 77.5p to 1,575.5p, Persimmon, down 62p to 1,377p, Mondi, down 45p to 1,336p, and Antofagasta, down 47.5p to 1,650p.