BA shares tumble on FTSE

A grim set of annual figures from British Airways sent the stock nose-diving into the red today and overshadowed more stable trading elsewhere.

BA shares slipped more than 8% on opening after reporting a record full-year loss of £401m (€456m) and said there was no recovery in sight.

The blue-chip stock was able to claw back some of the loss in positive mid-morning trading on the wider FTSE 100 Index, which stood 22.2 points higher at 4367.7.

The Footsie was holding its own after a turbulent session yesterday, which saw it shed 3% in the wake of Standard & Poor’s rating downgrade on UK government debt.

While BA was down 7.6p at 155.2p, financials and miners were among those on a firmer footing.

Royal Bank of Scotland rose 1.1p to 41p after it appointed Sandy Crombie as senior independent director, while fellow part-nationalised company Lloyds Banking Group cheered 2.3p to 69p.

Miners dominated the risers board after Eurasian Natural Resources rose 44.5p to 602.5p, Kazakhmys added 29.5p to 688p and Rio Tinto gained 104p to 2761p.

Cable & Wireless joined BA on the fallers board in a second day of losses after its full-year figures yesterday raised concerns it may not be able to sustain growth after recent turnaround efforts.

The group’s shares fell 2.7p to 139.3p.

The rout in the retail sector also continued apace in the wake of Marks & Spencer’s poor results and news of a dividend cut earlier this week.

Argos owner Home Retail Group led the declines, down 3p at 233p.

Outside the top flight, pubs group Marston’s rose 6%, or 9.5p to 169.25p, after it reported an improvement in trading since February, although this was not enough to prevent it announcing a 21% fall in half-year profits.

Sector counterpart Enterprise Inns also benefited, ahead 9.5p at 158.5p in the FTSE 250 Index.