Carphone Warehouse set to enter FTSE 100

Retail-to-broadband firm Carphone Warehouse today looked set to make its debut in the FTSE 100 Index of blue chip companies when the latest reshuffle takes place later this month.

The group is expected to enter the top flight when the FTSE Group carries out its quarterly review in just under two weeks’ time, which will mark Carphone Warehouse’s first FTSE 100 appearance since flotation seven years ago.

The Footsie reshuffle is based on today’s closing share price, which ranks Carphone Warehouse as the 95th biggest listed company in the UK by market capitalisation.

The group is due to be joined in the benchmark index by oil company Tullow Oil and newly-merged housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, ranked 75th and 79th respectively.

The new entrants to the top tier are set to oust water and waste group Kelda, power station firm Drax and property company Segro.

Any company ranked 111 or lower risks demotion from the FTSE 100, while FTSE 250 firms moving above 90th place are automatically promoted.

The results of the reshuffle are being officially announced tomorrow after a review meeting by the FTSE committee, when other issues will also come under consideration other than size of market capitalisation.

A move up to London’s leading share index would mark a significant milestone for Carphone Warehouse, launched in 1989 by Charles Dunstone.

The group was founded initially as a mobile phone company but has since expanded into other areas in the telecommunications market and it is now the third largest broadband provider in the UK, behind BT and Virgin Mobile.

A promotion would also see Tullow Oil and Taylor Wimpey make their first appearance in the FTSE 100.

Tullow Oil listed in 1994, while Taylor Wimpey was only created from the merger of George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow in July.

But a relegation to the second tier index would see Drax lose its place in the FTSE 100 after just over a year, having been promoted last June after its initial public offering at the end of 2005.

The group, which is the holding company of Britain’s biggest coal fired power station, saw its share price fall last week when it reported a 14% drop in profits for the first half of the year.

Today’s closing share price puts the group in 127th position, while Segro stands in 126th place and Kelda is ranked 116th.

The changes made at the quarterly review will take place on September 21.