FTSE 100 round-up: BT, Centrica, Howden Joinery

A six-year high for BT Group (LSE:BT.A) shares and a big dividend hike by British Gas owner Centrica (LSE:CNA) today boosted the mood of retail investors on a Super Thursday for corporate results.

Their progress, alongside a decent session for another widely held stock in Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), helped drive the FTSE 100 index to a fresh intraday record of 9158.21.

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The portfolio-enhancing session was led by Howden Joinery Group (LSE:HWDN), which jumped 97p to 932.1p after market share gains in challenging conditions underpinned a 4.4% increase in half-year profits.

Analysts at Berenberg drew attention to the strength of Howden’s balance sheet, which it said supported the kitchen company’s ability to “build and invest when others cannot”.

Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser Group (LSE:RKT) was next best in the FTSE 100, lifting 508p to 5548p after upgrading revenues guidance for 2025 amid stronger demand for its core portfolio.

BT Group surged 17.1p to 217.1p even though revenues fell by a bigger-than-expected 3.4% to £4.88 billion in the first quarter to 30 June.

Shares were boosted by an encouraging performance for the Openreach regulated division, which together with the impact of group-wide cost savings helped BT’s underlying earnings come in slightly ahead of hopes at £2.05 billion.

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Openreach’s line losses of 169,000 for the quarter were much better than City expectations of 233,000 and the 243,000 recorded in the previous quarter.

Despite the improved trend, BT continues to forecast 900,000 annual line losses amid the impact of alt-network providers in a weaker overall broadband and new homes market.

In contrast to negative quarters for BT’s Consumer and Business divisions, Openreach service revenues rose 1% and adjusted earnings by 5% in the three-month period.

This reflected record customer demand for Openreach’s next generation fibre broadband, with net additions up 46% year-on-year to 566,000 for a market share of 37%. Growth in average revenue per user stood at 4%.

Chief executive Allison Kirkby described BT’s start to the financial year as solid.

She said: “BT is investing more than anyone else in the nation’s networks, we’re connecting customers faster, and we’re on track to deliver our targets for this year, next year, and the end of the decade - creating a better BT, for all of us.”

Shares have rallied more than 40% this year as the end of BT’s fibre network build in December 2026 should mean a sharp improvement in cash flow and scope for higher dividends.

Berenberg recently backed the shares to reach 240p, but counterparts at UBS remain cautious based on a Sell recommendation and 135p price target.

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The bank sees a number of risks crystallising in the near term, including the potential sale of TalkTalk that could mean revenues shift away from Openreach to a competing network.

It also warned that Openreach may have to cut wholesale pricing in April to compete with the alt-nets where levels are 20-30% cheaper.

Centrica shares recovered from a weak start to stand 3p higher at 161.8p, lifted by results that met the guidance given at the British Gas owner’s AGM trading update in May.

Operating profit fell sharply to £549 million as market conditions have continued to normalise, but was still better than the City consensus of £510 million despite warmer weather in the period.

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 1.83p a share on 30 October, an increase of 22% on a year earlier and consistent with plans to increase the full year award to 5.5p.

Chief executive Chris O’Shea highlighted progress such as growth in customer numbers in energy supply and the completion of a system migration in British Gas Residential energy. However, he said there was more to do to make Centrica a leaner, more agile organisation.

The shares rose earlier this week after Centrica announced a £1.3 billion capped investment in the Sizewell C nuclear power station, with a real allowed return on equity of 10.8%.

The agreement forms part of Centrica's £4 billion green-focused investment programme through to the end of 2028. It now has commitments worth £2.5 billion, of which around £1.7 billion is tied to assets with regulated or contracted earnings including Sizewell C.

Head of ii Editorial Lee Wild owns BT shares.