FTSE 100 movers: Burberry tanks on sales warning; Halma rallies

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.8% at 7,426.93 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Halma rallied as it reported record first-half profit and revenue and said it was on track to deliver full-year 2024 adjusted pre-tax profit in line with analyst expectations.

Burberry tumbled as it warned that the slowdown in luxury demand was having an impact on current trading and could affect full-year sales. It also reported a huge deceleration in sales growth in the first half.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Burberry's warning off the back of a sharp slowdown in sales is the latest sign the luxury goods sector is not immune to an uncertain economic backdrop.

"Traditionally the wealthy clientele which shop for expensive clothes and accessories are seen as being insulated from the impact of higher borrowing costs and rising prices but apparently they are feeling some of the pain.

"This is particularly disappointing for Burberry given it has worked hard to position itself firmly at the luxury end of the market in recent years.

"Some improvement in tourism-related spend is encouraging as Burberry is heavily reliant on Chinese and US travellers shopping in Europe. Though this had the effect of depressing sales in mainland China as spending shifted offshore.

"The Americas is Burberry's worst performer and sorting this out will be top of the agenda for CEO Jonathan Akeroyd.

"In one sense Burberry shareholders will be reassured to see other luxury peers struggling as it suggests the company is not facing problems of its own making. All it can do right now is protect and invest in its brand and wait for an improvement in the backdrop."

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail was weaker as JPMorgan reiterated its 'underweight' rating on the shares.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Halma (HLMA) 2,052.00p 4.40% National Grid (NG.) 1,006.00p 1.70% SSE (SSE) 1,780.50p 1.68% Centrica (CNA) 149.85p 1.52% Vodafone Group (VOD) 73.49p 1.10% Experian (EXPN) 2,913.00p 1.04% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 246.10p 1.03% Tesco (TSCO) 276.30p 1.02% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,691.00p 0.79% Airtel Africa (AAF) 113.90p 0.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,572.00p -9.89% Ocado Group (OCDO) 565.20p -5.20% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 718.00p -4.77% Entain (ENT) 844.20p -2.79% Shell (SHEL) 2,569.50p -2.50% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 536.80p -2.47% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,108.00p -2.44% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 291.90p -2.37% Mondi (MNDI) 1,404.00p -2.13% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,798.00p -2.10%