RSA, Intu and Barclays shares climb; Centrica slumps

RSA Insurance and shopping centre group Intu were the biggest winners in early trading on the FTSE 100 on Thursday, with shares in each climbing 5 per cent after Intu reported a 7 per cent rise in underlying earnings and RSA’s profits jumped by a quarter.

Here’s fastFT’s roundup of the rest of the movers on a busy day for European earnings:

Jumping profits also boosted shares in Barclays, which climbed 3 per cent to 241p after it bounced back to an annual profit.

A return to profit wasn’t enough to help Centrica, however, with shares in the British Gas owner dropping 3 per cent as its UK home business continued to struggle.

In Europe it was a big day for telecoms groups, with Spain’s Telefónica and France’s Orange and Bouygues all releasing full-year results. Investors were pleased with Telefónica’s return to profit in the fourth quarter, sending shares in the group up 2.6 per cent.

Bouygues was the biggest riser on France’s Cac 40 index, after the company beat earnings forecasts by 20 per cent and said it will continue to improve its profitability this year. Shares in the group climbed 5 per cent after what Jefferies analyst Jerry Dellis called a “strong set of results”.

The response to improved revenue growth at Orange was more muted, however, with shares up 0.4 per cent at publication time.