London stocks reversed earlier losses and traded up by midday on Thursday. The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,200.10. Auto Trader surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it said the new financial year had got off to a strong start and posted a jump in annual sales and profits. The car marketplace specialist said revenues in the year to 30 May rose 14% to £570.9m. Within that, Auto Trader sales increased 12% to £529.7m while leasing specialist Autorama saw a 51% increase to £41.2m. Group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 14% to £375.3m, while pre-tax profits increased 18% to £345.2m [bed8d5ba].
Troubled bootmaker Dr. Martens gained as it held guidance for the current year and announced a cost savings target of up to £25m. It also posted a bigger-than-expected fall in annual revenue and operating profit as its US woes continued [cf8275fc].
Frasers Group rallied following a report the company is closing in on a deal to take control of Ted Baker’s British arm. According to Jefferies, the prospective deal will not include the business’s head office workers in London. Jefferies upgraded the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and lifted the price target to 90p from 67p as it said the electricals retailer was 'a sound way to play the expected improvement in UK retail demand' [bed8d5ba].