Chinese demand for pork lifts food producer Cranswick

INVESTORS feasted on

Cranswick shares after the sausage-maker said it was continuing to cash in on a Chinese pork shortage.

The FTSE 250 group’s share price hit a record high after it said “robust” third-quarter trading had put it on track for higher than expected full-year profits.

Chinese pork imports have surged over the past year, after a widespread outbreak of African swine fever devastated the country’s pig population.

“Export sales have continued to be exceptionally strong and the outlook remains positive,” the company said in an update to the City.

“African swine fever has created opportunities for Far Eastern exports assuming the UK remains ASF free,” it added. “The UK industry remains on high alert with intensive biosecurity protocols in place.”

Peel Hunt analyst Charles Hall said ASF had already depleted more than half of China’s pig herd, adding it would likely take more than a year to rebuild numbers.

“Increased imports from the US will help, but will not come close to filling the gap,” he wrote in a note to investors. “As a result, prices are likely to remain elevated for at least a year.”

Cranswick ended the day up 318p at £37.14 as the biggest riser on the FTSE 250, amid solid gains across Europe’s top indices.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 0.85pc, with blue-chips handed an extra boost by a fall in the pound, which dropped after worse than expected retail data pointed to a black Christmas for British retailers.

International earners including London’s biggest listed miners were boosted by sterling’s weakness, and geopolitical optimism after Beijing and Washington signed a “phase one” trade agreement earlier in the week. Shares in British

Airways-owner IAG rose 32.6p to 671p after the airline said it had removed a limit on non-eu shareholding.

IAG had instated the cap last year after the number of shares held by those outside the bloc rose as high as 47.5pc.

Ownership of its shares by non-eu people has now reduced to 39.5pc, the company said, adding it will continue to monitor distribution levels and retains the right to reimpose a limit at any time.

Bernstein analysts said the decision meant a “large overhang” had been removed, adding it viewed the decision “very positively”.

NMC Health once again grabbed the biggest blue-chip gains, closing up 116p at £15.57, as it continued to claw its way back from a devastating short-seller attack in December. The group rose after saying it had hired former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate allegations of problems in its accounting practices.

The biggest FTSE 100 faller was Premier Inn owner Whitbread, which slipped 106p to £44.81 after Berenberg cut its rating on the group from buy to hold.

The group’s price fell on Thursday after it said sales had declined in the third quarter amid poor regional performance.

Among mid-caps, shares in Restaurant Group, which owns brands including Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, slipped after UBS downgraded the company to a “sell” ratings.

Analysts at the Swiss bank said they saw TRG’S leisure brand as likely to continue to underperform the market, with the company facing an “incrementally challenging” 2020.

Shares closed down 11.1p at 136.6p. Ladbrokes-owner GVC

Holdings slipped slightly, falling 23.2p to 910.6p even after it forecast earnings towards to the top end of its guidance.

GVC said its full-year earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation would at the higher end of a £670m to £680m range.