FTSE 100 movers: Intertek slides on bid rejection; BT boosted by broker notes

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 10,254.09 in afternoon trade on Friday.

Intertek slid as it rejected Swedish private equity firm EQT's sweetened offer of £58 a share, saying it "significantly undervalues" the company and its future prospects, and that there was major execution risk given its conditional nature.

Going the other way, BT Group was the top gainer on the index on the back of broker notes from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.

JPM lifted its price target on BT to 310p from 300p and maintained its 'overweight' rating as it said its analysis suggests we are past peak pain on altnet competition, and that Openreach's line loss should now steadily improve.

It also said BT still screens very cheap and reiterated its hope that BT might unveil a new dividend policy, linked to its equity free cash flow growth outlook.

"We show that doubling the dividend by Mar-30E would deliver an 8% yield, yet leave ample room for deleveraging," it said.

Goldman, which has a 'buy' rating on BT and has the stock on its 'conviction list', said full-year results are a key potential positive catalyst and there is scope to double the dividend.

British Land and Land Securities were both higher. In a research note in which it downgraded shares of Workspace, Barclays said it preferred British Land and Land Securities for London office.

FTSE 100 - Risers

BT Group (BT.A) 231.60p 4.51%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 75.64p 3.81%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 584.00p 2.28%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 118.25p 1.94%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 595.00p 1.79%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 99.65p 1.64%

British Land Company (BLND) 391.80p 1.45%

Entain (ENT) 547.40p 1.44%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,122.50p 1.35%

SSE (SSE) 2,518.00p 1.35%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,070.00p -2.68%

Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,927.00p -2.34%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 11,320.00p -2.16%

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 36.91p -2.01%

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,386.00p -1.69%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,236.00p -1.64%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,193.00p -1.57%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,958.60p -1.55%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 314.50p -1.50%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 484.40p -1.42%