Supermarket group Iceland had a tough start to trading today, diving 6% after weekend reports its chairman Malcolm Walker was set to step down following criticism about a share sale.
Although the group played down the reports and said Mr Walker had done nothing wrong, shares slid 13p in early trading to 191p.
The share row had been over Mr Walker’s sale of £13m of shares in December – a few weeks before a disappointing trading statement was issued.
The share dive came alongside a lacklustre market overall, and after an hour’s trading the FTSE-100 Index was off 9.2 points at 6285.1.
With little corporate news to bolster shares, eyes were instead on the US, where the Federal Reserve is due to announce its key interest rate decision on Wednesday. Expectations are for a 50 basis point cut, following the surprise rate slash earlier this month.
In the UK, telecoms and banks made a good start to the session, with Vodafone at 240p and Telewest Communications up 5p at 146p.
Banking risers included Alliance & Leicester, up 25p at 725p, Lloyds TSB up a penny at 730p and Royal Bank of Scotland rising 6p to £13.36.
But a number of stocks came under pressure, including pharmaceuticals groups Shire Pharmaceuticals, off 13p at £12.70, Glaxo SmithKline, down 10p at £18.29 and medical equipment group Nycomed Amersham off 19p at 572p.
EGi News 29/01/01
