Morrisons set to survive FTSE 100 cull as Weir Group faces the chop

Morrisons shareholders will be relieved to hear the embattled supermarket chain is almost certain to avoid relegation from the FTSE 100 list of leading companies when the quarterly reshuffle is announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Morrisons in WetherbyMorrisons in Wetherby
Morrisons in Wetherby

The Bradford-based supermarket chain lies just outside the FTSE 100, but it is far better placed than engineer Weir Group which is ranked well below after its share price fell nearly 50 per cent over the past year on the back of falling demand from the oil and gas sector.

Morrisons’ shareholders will cheer the news as FTSE 100 constituents are automatically included in tracker funds held by insurance and other investment companies.

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London Stock Exchange said it expects Weir to be demoted to the FTSE 250 list while housebuilder Berkeley is likely to be promoted to the FTSE 100 following a rosy time for the housebuilding sector.

Electronics distributor Premier Farnell could well be demoted from the FTSE 250 to the FTSE Small Cap Index in Wednesday’s shake-up.

Shares in the Leeds-based group have plunged after the group said it expects a 10 per cent decline in first-half adjusted operating profit after sales growth per day in its main markets slowed in the second quarter.

Chief executive Laurence Bain has recently commenced a review of the group’s operations.

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The company, which sells products from nozzles for fire hoses and de-icing machines to household soldering guns, said its second-quarter sales growth per day had slowed significantly sequentially, particularly in its North American and UK markets.

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