The owner of British Airways was flying high on the London market after failing in its bid to buy a collapsed Austrian airline.
International Airlines Group picked up 17¾p to 91½p after confirming that its attempt to acquire Niki, which filed for insolvency in December, was unsuccessful. It had agreed to pay €20 million for the business but ran into legal complications.
IAG was also lifted by a strong quarterly update from Easyjet, which rose 89½p to £16.53, after reporting that total revenue increased 14.4 per cent to £1.14 billion.
The FTSE 100 climbed 16.25 points, or 0.21 per cent, in the morning to 7,731.69.
Berenberg upgraded Croda International, one of the world’s biggest speciality chemical companies , lifting its target price from £41.50 to £50 and urging clients to “buy”. Its shares rallied by 123p to £45.92.
Advertisement
Sky was boosted by a regulatory ruling on 21st Century Fox’s plan to acquire the 61 per cent of shares it does not already own. The Competition and Markets Authority ruled preliminarily against the £11.7 billion takeover, citing concerns over media plurality, but it did not reject the deal because of fears over broadcasting standards. Shares in Sky picked up 25p to £10.28.
Mining stocks weighed. Anglo American shed 61¼p to £17.31 and Antofagasta slid 30p to 964¾p.
The FTSE 250 edged up 14.58 points to 20,669.75. A quarterly update from Pets At Home lifted its shares by 13½p to 195½p, and Easyjet’s climb pushed Wizz Air, the Hungarian airline, 163p higher to £36.67.
Just Group, the annuity provider, fell 8¼p to 150p after Cinven, the private equity firm, announced that it would sell its remaining 5.5 per cent stake.