FTSE 100 dips as RBS shares fall 

ftse-100

London’s stock market opened slightly lower as investors digested another raft of company results.

Shortly after trading began, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 5.87 points at 7,265.50.

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland fell 2.2% after the bank reported yet another hefty annual loss.

The £7bn loss for 2016 was far worse the £2bn deficit posted in the previous year. It was the ninth year in a row RBS has failed to make a profit.

Pearson shares were down 1.7% after the education services group reported a full-year loss of £2.6bn. The company has been hit by a downturn in sales of text books in the US.

There was better news for airline group IAG – which owns British Airways and Iberia. Shares in the company rose 2.5% after it reported pre-tax profits of 2.4bn euros, despite being hit by the weaker pound.

In the FTSE 250, shares in property website Rightmove fell 4%, despite it reporting an 18% rise in operating profit to £161.6m.

Rightmove also announced that Peter Brooks-Johnson, currently the company’s chief operating officer, would take over as chief executive when Nick McKittrick retires in May.

Shares in William Hill were up 2% after the bookmaker reported a slight increase in annual pre-tax profits to £225.6m.

However, operating profits fell 10% to £261.5m amid tough competition and following a number of unfavourable sports results.

The company – which has been without a permanent chief executive since last July – said it expected to name a new head “in a few weeks’ time”.

On the currency markets, the pound slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to $1.2542 and also fell 0.1% against the euro to 1.1852 euros.

Source: BBC

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