(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 8,252.48 in afternoon trade on Thursday.

Paper and packaging company DS Smith was up as it reported a fall in annual profits driven by weak volumes and high inflation, but said it expected higher prices and demand to boost a recovery in the second half of the current year and into 2026.

Ocado tumbled as it said the planned launch of North American partner Sobeys' customer fulfilment centre in Vancouver had been paused and that the two have agreed to end terms related to mutual exclusivity.

The go-live of Canadian grocer Sobeys' fourth customer fulfilment centre (CFC) was originally planned for 2025. Ocado said the timeline will be under regular review and the site will be able to commission and scale quickly when required. Ocado refers to its automated warehouses at CFCs.

United Utilities and Persimmon lost ground as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 568.50p 5.08%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 630.00p 3.36%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 123.50p 3.09%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,113.00p 2.72%

WPP (WPP) 752.40p 2.26%

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 359.60p 2.16%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 481.70p 1.95%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 14,740.00p 1.87%

Centrica (CNA) 136.70p 1.75%

Glencore (GLEN) 464.00p 1.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 297.70p -15.55%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 992.00p -1.78%

easyJet (EZJ) 447.60p -1.65%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 299.40p -1.06%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 240.80p -0.91%

Croda International (CRDA) 4,086.00p -0.68%

Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,460.00p -0.65%

St James's Place (STJ) 543.50p -0.64%

GSK (GSK) 1,608.00p -0.53%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,358.50p -0.48%