MARKET REPORT

LONDON’S blue-chip index pushed higher at the end of the week, helped by a strong showing from

owner

IAG’s shares flew up by 5.84% or 37.4p during the session, closing the day at 678p, making it one of the top risers on the FTSE 100 which ended the day up 0.86% or 64.45 points at 7,567.14.

It came as IAG reported a sharp increase in first quarter profit yesterday, helped in part by the timing of Easter.

Operating profit in the three months to March 31 rose 75% to €280m (£247m), traditionally the weakest quarter of the year for airlines, while underlying revenues rose 1%.

George Salmon, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “IAG is adding more passengers, and its planes are taking off with fewer empty seats. That’s helping the top line grow nicely.

“But we think the really impressive part of these results is the group’s tighter grip on controllable costs.”

It also emerged during the day that

had rejected two takeover offers from IAG.

shares also jumped up after it said its “cost efficiency programme” was on track to deliver £300m of annualised savings by 2020.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were up 63.6p to 893.6p, up 37.4p to 678p, up 167p to 5,727p and

up 43.4p to 1,601.4p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were down 8.4p to 481.6p,

down 5.4p to 362.3p, down 47p to 4,076p and down 6.9p to 714.4p.