FTSE reshuffles confirmed: Convatec and Smurfit Kappa replace Travis Perkins and Polymetal International in blue-chip index
Medical products company Convatec has successfully made its way into the FTSE 100 after floating on the London Stock Exchange’s main market at the end of October.
Convatec will be joined by Irish packaging firm Smurfit Kappa on the blue-chip index tomorrow morning.
Making way are building materials company Travis Perkins, which was forced to issue a profits warning in October, and Polymetal International, a Russian gold producer.
Shopping centre owner Intu Properties avoided the drop after looking set to go down at the beginning of the week because of its closing position last Friday.
Read more: Banks and oil stocks drag down FTSE in morning trading
“Continence and packaging have trumped gold and construction in the latest round of FTSE musical chairs,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Polymetal’s time in the UK’s premier index only lasted three months as it suffered from the reversal in the price of gold since the US election as investors moved away from safe haven assets in the hope that increased fiscal stimulus will boost markets.
Travis Perkins lasted longer at three years but was hurt by a profit warning in October.
Mould said Smurfit Kappa’s promotion “represents a remarkable turnaround in fortunes, as the shares collapsed following its 2007 flotation to barely 140p in 2009, weighed down by the recession and hefty debts”.
He added:
Smurfit Kappa has since bounced back strongly to almost £18 a share, buoyed by a reduction in its net debt pile from nearly €5bn to barely €3bn, selective acquisitions, the resumption of dividend payments in 2011 and a consistent improvement in trading profit.
Read more: Medical goods maker Convatec announces London listing
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Narrowly missing out on joining the FTSE 100 were Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Auto Trader, Just Eat, Rentokil Initial, Weir Group and G4S. These companies are now on the FTSE 100 reserve list.
Elsewhere, iron ore company Ferrexpo, real estate investment trust NewRiver and Nostrum Oil & Gas have been promoted into the FTSE 250.
Estate agent Countrywide, cyber security expert NCC Group, technology company Laird and DFS Furniture have been demoted from the FTSE 250.