FTSE 100 movers: AstraZeneca rallies; Severn Trent in the red

21st May 2024 14:31

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 8,411.78 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca rallied as it laid out plans to hit $80bn in revenue by 2030.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Having stepped up to the plate and delivered on its $45 billion revenue goal set a decade earlier, AstraZeneca is now reaching for the stars with a new target to hit $80 billion revenue by 2030. The market liked the bold ambition, sending the shares to the upper part of the FTSE 100 leader board.

"An easy way for AstraZeneca to achieve such a goal would be to go on a spending spree and buy up rival companies. However, AstraZeneca implies it will hit the goal through organic means which would be all the more impressive.

"Chief executive Pascal Soriot is no stranger to controversy over the scale of his pay packet so perhaps he is trying to justify the large renumeration with the new growth plan. Achieving the goal would imply significant value generation for shareholders and no doubt himself given that part of his bonus scheme will be based on company performance.

"Developing new medicines is not an easy task as the success rate is unpredictable. Even when something is approved for commercial sale, there is always the risk of copycat products once patents expire. AstraZeneca needs to spin multiple plates at the same time as it cannot go 'all in' on one area, in case of failure or setback."

Severn Trent was under the cosh after South West Water owner Pennon slashed its dividend by £2.4m following a record fine for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Schroders (SDR) 377.00p 1.78%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,525.00p 1.32%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,188.00p 0.76%

Tesco (TSCO) 312.70p 0.74%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,568.00p 0.71%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,406.00p 0.54%

Next (NXT) 9,410.00p 0.45%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,945.50p 0.31%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,356.00p 0.30%

Centrica (CNA) 146.60p 0.27%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

easyJet (EZJ) 459.90p -3.16%

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 367.00p -2.39%

BT Group (BT.A) 129.25p -2.27%

RS Group (RS1) 810.50p -2.23%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 870.00p -2.16%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,932.00p -2.08%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 75.78p -1.79%

Prudential (PRU) 790.80p -1.79%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 608.00p -1.78%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,588.00p -1.71%