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Barclays Africa sale sparks share surge First Group leads FTSE 250 losers' list
(about 4 hours later)
London's leading shares crept higher in early Thursday trading, with Barclays topping the list of gainers. Bus and rail operator First Group saw its share price tumble 5.6% in Thursday morning trading after giving a cautious trading outlook.
The bank added 1.8% after announcing that it had sold off a bigger stake than expected in its African unit. It was the biggest loser on the FTSE 250, despite reporting a 23% rise in pre-tax profits to £207m for the year to the end of March.
Overall, both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 showed gains at lunchtime.
The 100-share index was up 31.36 points at 7,551.31, while the 250-share index was 22.19 points higher at 19,994.36.
At the start of the day, Barclays had topped the FTSE 100's list of gainers after announcing that it had sold off a bigger stake than expected in its African unit.
However, by lunchtime it had fallen back to stand just 0.1% higher on the day.
The share sale brought in £2.2bn for Barclays and reduces its stake in Barclays Africa to about 15% as the bank refocuses on the UK and US markets.The share sale brought in £2.2bn for Barclays and reduces its stake in Barclays Africa to about 15% as the bank refocuses on the UK and US markets.
Overall, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 30.05 points or 0.4% at 7,550. On the currency markets, the pound was 0.31% lower against the dollar at $1.2851 and down 0.17% against the euro at 1.1450 euros.
On the currency markets, the pound was 0.23% lower against the dollar at $1.2860 and down 0.27% against the euro at 1.1438 euros.