FTSE 100 Advances As Investors React To Earnings Announcements

(RTTNews) - U.K.'s FTSE 100 remains firmly up in positive territory a little past noon on Thursday, with investors reacting to a slew of encouraging corporate earnings announcements. Energy and mining stocks are faring well.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 57.00 points or 0.6% at 9,572.00 nearly half an hour past noon.

Shares of pest control firm Rentokil Initial Plc is rising 11.5% after the company's third-quarter organic revenue growth topped estimates.

London Stock Exchange Group is surging 7%, after raising its margin guidance. The company has also announced a 1 billion pound buyback.

Fresenillo, Endeavour Mining, BP, Burberry Group, Shell and Anglo American Plc are up 2 to 5%.

Lloyds Banking Group is gaining 1%. The lender reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profit and lowered its annual guidance.

Consumer goods maker Unilever is rising nearly 1.5% as it reported a 3.9% rise in underlying sales for the third quarter of 2025.

Segro, Centrica, Mondi, Babcock International, Barclays, Weir Group, Rio Tinto, ICG, Interteck Group and Melrose Industries are up 1 to 1.8%.

St. James's Place, Ashtead Group, The Sage Group, Schroders, Diageo, Relx, Legal & General, Easyjet, Whitbread, Compass Group, Marks & Spencer and Tesco are down 1 to 3.5%.

Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels is down 1.3% despite Q3 room revenue coming in above estimates.

In economic news, business confidence in the United Kingdom decreased to -31 points in the fourth quarter of 2025 from -27 points in the third quarter of 2025. Business Confidence in the United Kingdom averaged -4.70 points from 1958 until 2025, reaching an all time high of 55 points in the third quarter of 1959 and a record low of -87 points in the second quarter of 2020. source: Confederation of British Industry