Barclays woes fail to stop Footsie rising

Market report Perry Gourley

Barclays sank towards the bottom of the FTSE 100 as it booked a loss on the back of payment protection insurance (PPI) charges and a £1.4 billion settlement with the US authorities.

The bank swung to a loss in the first quarter, reporting a pre-tax loss of £236 million for the three months to 31 March, and its shares fell by 1.41 per cent or 3p, closing the day at 210p, making it one of biggest fallers on London’s bluechip index which itself climbed 42.11 points to 7,421.43.

Shares in Taylor Wimpey dipped after the housebuilder reported a slowdown in sales and build rates, which were partly affected by extreme weather in March. In a trading update covering the first four months of the year, it said the value of its order book fell 2.5 per cent to £2.16bn. Shares closed down 2.8p at 190.05p.

Oil giant BP named energy industry veteran Helge Lund as its next chairman, succeeding Carl-henricsvanberg.followingtheannouncement, shares rose 11.3p to 535.3p.

Embattled retailer Carpetright won the backing of creditors and landlords for a restructuring plan that will spark store closures and hundreds of job losses. Shares ended the session up 1p to 39p.

Carpetright has earmarked 81 stores for closure as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allows firms to shut lossmaking outlets and secure rent reductions.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Evraz, up 27.9p to 449.4p, United Utilities, up 22.8p to 737.6p, Severn Trent, up 56p to 1925.5p, and British American Tobacco, up 115.5p to 3,965.5p. Shares in the retailer rose despite it paying out millions in compensation to customers over its flawed insurance products and its profits falling. The Glasgow firm planning a leisure project in Crete came under pressure after announcing a discounted share placing to raise funds.