FTSE 100 rallied on a huge slew of company announcements, many of which saw a resumption in dividends suspended due to the pandemic. The blue-chip index added 30 to 6,689 in early trades.
British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) though scrapped its final payment after a raft of impairments meant heavy losses for a second year. The gas supplier said it can give no guidance for the current year either due to the uncertain backdrop.
Associated-British-Foods-PLC/]LON:ABF) said the latest closures of its Primark stores will cost it an estimated £1.1bn in lost sales. The FTSE 100 firm has already reopened 77 of the fashion retailer’s sites overseas and now has likely reopening dates for 233 UK shops.
Shares in GameStop burst back into life overnight with the price more than doubling amid frenzied trading that saw trading halted twice. Social media site Reddit crashed due to the frenetic activity. Among the small caps,
Clipper Logistics PLC (LON:CLG) expects to materially outperform market expectations for the next financial year and beyond. The logistics firm recently won big new contracts with retailers River Island and Mountain Warehouse.
Similarly, Daily Mash and The Tab owner Digitalbox PLC (LON:DBOX) said its performance this year so far has beaten expectations following an improvement in the second half of 2020. Its audience grew to 12mln monthly users.
AFC Energy PLC (LON:AFC) has launched a new test facility at its headquarters in Surrey. The Extreme E series hydrogen company is working on a fuel cell to use in marine, rail and other heavy motive applications.