Market Report: Burberry worst performer on FTSE 100 after currency headwinds

The luxury goods maker Burberry collared all the attention – for all the wrong reasons – after saying profits will be lower than previously guided after this year’s results were impacted by currency headwinds and slowing demand in Asia.

The UK fashion darling was the worst performer on the FTSE 100, down 91p at 1,717p, after unveiling its first set of results under chief executive and chief designer, Christopher Bailey. “Underneath, the numbers read well and are ahead of forecasts – and the company is doing a lot to make the business sustainable, but lowering 2016 guidance has hit Burberry,” said Will Hedden of London Capital.

Burberry’s falls were neatly matched by gains in Vodafone on bid speculation, leaving the FTSE 100 index treading water at 7,007.26, up just 12.16. Vodafone took the Footsie’s top spot, as rumours of an approach gained traction after the veteran US cable mogul John Malone indicated that he was eyeing the mobile operator, saying that a tie-up with his Liberty Global would be “a great fit… if we could work it out”.

Traders piled into the stock, which dialled up a 12.25p rise to 238.85p, reversing Vodafone’s results-prompted losses of the previous session.

Elsewhere, Vectura, a speciality pharmaceutical group which makes products for respiratory problems such as asthma and smoker’s cough, bounded up 5.75p to 169p on forecast-busting full-year results. Analysts at FinnCap, who have a 202p price target on the group, said it reported a maiden profit of £3.7m against an expected loss.

Allied Minds shed 55p to 595p after Invesco sold 16 million shares at 565p each, raising £90.4m. The asset manager indicated that it will remain a long-term shareholder of the company, in which it still has a 41 per cent stake.

Among the small caps, paver Marshalls laid down a 12.5p rise to 288.5p after announcing better than expected profits and a robust order book, which sparked a price target upgrade to 320p from Panmure Gordon. The group produces stone and concrete for the construction and landscape markets from its own quarries and manufacturing sites.