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FTSE 100 slips as Centrica shares tumble FTSE 100 slips as Centrica shares plunge
(about 3 hours later)
Centrica was the stand-out casualty on the London market after the owner of British Gas warned on profits and announced a sharp fall in customers.Centrica was the stand-out casualty on the London market after the owner of British Gas warned on profits and announced a sharp fall in customers.
About an hour into trading, Centrica shares were down 17%. That hit other power companies, with SSE down 2.5% and National Grid off 3%. The company said it had lost 823,000 domestic customer accounts since the end of June.
The FTSE 100 was down 22.71 points at 7,396.31. Centrica's shares plunged 16%, putting it on track for its worst one-day fall on record.
The top gainer was broadcaster ITV, up almost 3%, and housebuilders recovered some of Wednesday's losses. It was by far the biggest faller on the FTSE 100. Shortly after midday the index was down 4.00 points at 7,415.02.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.14% against the dollar to $1.3307, and was 0.38% down on the euro at €1.1230. Housebuilders recovered some of the losses seen on Wednesday, when they had been hit by the Budget announcement that the government would reclaim land that was not developed quickly enough.
Elsewhere in Europe, the main markets were trading water. Frankfurt's Dax index was 0.2% down at 12,984.5, while the Cac 40 in Paris rose 0.1% to 5,360.6. Berkeley Group, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey were all up by about 1.6%.
Outside the FTSE 100, shares in Mothercare sank nearly 17% after the baby goods retailer reported a half-year loss.
The company said its international markets remained "challenging", mainly due to weak trading in the Middle East, and also said its UK sales had softened in recent weeks.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.1% against the dollar to $1.3312, and was 0.4% down on the euro at €1.1230.