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Hochschild drops after near 35% profit fall
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Segro gains on strong occupier demand
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Relx climbs on confident outlook
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Melrose hits more than 3-yr high on Dowlais listing
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FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 down 0.3%
(Adds comment; updates prices, details)
By Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian
April 20 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 index closed
slightly up on Thursday as a jump in shares of consumer
conglomerate Melrose offered just enough of a boost to
overshadow falls in commodity-linked sectors.
Melrose Industries Plc surged 21.7% to hit a more than three-year high after it listed shares in the former automotive division of engineer GKN on the London Stock Exchange as Dowlais at 146 pence. The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.1% up, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.3%.
"With spinoffs (like Dowlais), they often are focused businesses which investors tend to like because of much better earnings visibility," said Shanti Kelemen, chief investment officer at M&G Wealth Investments "Companies really want them (spinoffs) to succeed, so they often are priced attractively."
Weighing on the FTSE 100 were oil giants BP Plc and Shell Plc , losing 0.9% and 0.3% respectively, and base metal miners , which lost 0.4%, tracking weak commodity prices that fell on lower demand expectations. The FTSE 100 was on a winning streak until recently, with commodity stocks tracking firm crude and metal prices, but a recent decades-high inflation reading added to concerns over rate hikes and heightened fears of a slowdown in growth.
Among other major movers, Segro Plc gained 3.6% after the warehousing specialist said it was witnessing strong occupier demand. Relx Plc added 1.7% as the information company said it expected underlying sales and profit growth rates to remain above historical trends. Hochschild Mining dropped 11.3% after the miner reported a near 35% fall in annual adjusted core profit.
Haleon Plc added 2.9% after the GSK consumer spinoff said it expects 2023 organic revenue growth to come in towards the upper end of its 4%-6% forecast. (Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami, Sonia Cheema and Jan Harvey)
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