19th Feb 2026 11:52
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mostly in the red midday on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 weighed down after Centrica and Rio Tinto released annual results.
The FTSE 100 index was down 80.50 points, 0.8%, at 10,605.68. The FTSE 250 was down 100.39 points, 0.4%, at 23,586.05, and the AIM all-share was down 0.69 points, 0.1%, at 811.05.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.8% at 1,055.78, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.3% at 20,902.22, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.1% at 18,575.58.
Centrica remained the lowest blue-chip, down 5.8%.
The Windsor, England-based owner of British Gas gave investors a "nasty shock" with its 2025 results, AJ Bell's Dan Coatsworth said.
Centrica reported pretax profit of GBP112 million for 2025, sharply down from GBP1.68 billion in 2024, while revenue decreased 2.1% to GBP19.49 billion.
"While the drop in earnings wasn't quite as large as expected, Centrica provided disappointing news on share buybacks which has led the share price to power down in response," Coatsworth commented.
Centrica lifted its full-year payout to 5.5 pence per share from 4.5p in 2024, but said it is pausing share buybacks in order to invest in its infrastructure portfolio, including nuclear power.
"Executing on these ventures will be challenging and will put a dent in the company's healthy cash position but could deliver more stable earnings if they ultimately prove successful," Coatsworth said. "Having been fuelled by a favourable environment since 2022, Centrica must now prove its mettle without a helping hand from rising prices."
Rio Tinto was the third-lowest large-cap, down 3.7% after reporting that profit declined in 2025 despite higher revenue. It also lifted its final dividend for the year by 13% to 254 cents per share from 225 cents, leaving full-year dividend unchanged at 402 cents per share.
"The UK market was also dragged down by the market reaction to Rio Tinto's results, albeit that looked more like profit taking after a strong rally than anything worrying in its figures," Coatsworth said, noting: "Weaker iron ore was offset by strong copper takings."
Also on the FTSE 100, miners fell, with Antofagasta down 3.0%, Glencore down 1.8%, and Anglo American down 1.6%. Also, United Utilities lost 1.4%, and energy company Metlen lost 2.2%.
On AIM, Checkit rose 10%.
The Cambridge, England-based workflow management software provider says full-year adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are at break-even for the year ended January 31, ahead of market expectations and against the prior year's GBP2.3 million loss.
The company also believed that it "enters FY27 with a materially lower cost base, improved operational discipline and a high quality pipeline compared with the prior year".
Small-cap REA Holdings lost 4.5%.
The Indonesia-focused palm oil company's 2025 crude palm oil production decreased to 189,215 tonnes from 190,235 tonnes, and crude palm kernel oil production decreased to 17,461 tonnes from 18,086 tonnes. At the same time, rainfall across the estates averaged 3,885 millimetres, 23% above the ten-year historic average, and up by around 44% from 2,707mm in 2024.
However, REA added that its outlook for production and sales of both CPO and CPKO was positive.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.7%.
Eurozone construction output rose 0.9% on-month in December after a 1.5% fall in November, data published by Eurostat showed. Annually, construction output in the eurozone fell 0.9% in December, softer than a 1.4% contraction in November.
Also, the euro area's current account recorded a EUR255 billion surplus in 2025, down 37% from EUR407 billion in 2024, data published by the European Central Bank showed. The surplus was 1.6% of eurozone gross domestic product in 2025, lower than 2.7% in 2024.
However in December, the eurozone trade surplus grew to EUR14.57 billion from EUR8.91 billion in November, easily beating FXStreet-cited consensus expectations of a milder improvement to EUR9.2 billion.
Meanwhile in Zurich, Nestle rose 2.2%.
The Vevey, Switzerland-based food and drink conglomerate said it was considering selling its ice cream division, after a "a difficult external environment" hurt 2025's bottom line. Pretax profit fell 19% to CHF10.75 billion, or USD13.92 billion.
Alongside the weaker results, Nestle reported that it began talks in early January to divest its remaining ice cream businesses to Froneri International, its joint venture with PAI Partners - following in Unilever's footsteps, as Coatsworth put it.
"Such a deal makes perfect sense," he commented. "Big consumer brand companies like Nestle are going through a process of slimming to greatness. They're looking at which parts of their business have the best potential for growth and anything that doesn't cut the mustard is on the chopping block.
"The rapid growth in weight-loss drugs also creates uncertainty for high-calorie products like ice cream and that trend might have encouraged Nestle to think about which business areas are now rated higher-risk from a GLP-1 perspective."
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3467 at midday on Thursday in London, compared to USD1.3548 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.1778, lower against USD1.1813. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY154.69, higher compared to JPY154.38.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.6%, the S&P 500 index up 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.10%, widening from 4.08%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.73%, widening from 4.69%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD71.42 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from USD69.62 late on Wednesday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD4,985.00 an ounce against USD5,002.90.
"Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, tensions in both the Middle East and Eastern Europe have intensified, casting doubt on the viability of current peace talks," FXEM's Abdelaziz Albogdady commented. "This persistent fragility continues to embed a geopolitical risk premium into global markets, underpinning bullion's appeal."
However, Albogdady added that "further upside could be tempered by uncertainty surrounding US monetary policy. The latest Federal Reserve minutes revealed a divided committee, with some officials open to the possibility of a return to policy tightening if necessary, while others signalled readiness to ease if conditions deteriorate.
"Upcoming US inflation data, particularly Friday's [personal consumption expenditures] release, will be pivotal."
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, keep an eye out for US weekly jobless, trade balance and wholesale inventories.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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