By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks finished higher Thursday,
leaving the FTSE 100 with a fresh record close, with Standard
Chartered PLC surging as the bank named a new chief executive. But
stock in Royal Bank of Scotland PLC was dragged lower following
financial results and news that the firm planned to shrink.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 6,949.73, notching a record
closing high. It was two days ago that the blue-chip index marked
its best close since December 1999
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-ftse-100-closing-at-its-highest-level-in-15-years-means-2015-02-24).
Thursday's advance was led by a 5.4% jump in Standard Chartered
PLC . The stock's strongest gain since August 2012 was triggered
after the Asia-focused lender said CEO Peter Sands will step down
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-chartered-names-bill-winters-next-ceo-as-it-shakes-up-top-brass-2015-02-26)
in June, after eight years in the role. He will be succeeded by
Bill Winters, who once served as the co-CEO of J.P. Morgan
Investment Bank. Other leadership changes are also planned.
It is now "the right moment to hand over to new leadership,"
said Sands in a statement. "It has been my privilege to lead the
people of Standard Chartered through a period of extraordinary
turbulence and growth." Sands had been under pressure to step down
as profit had fallen and shares have struggled.
"At this stage, we think this will be well-received as a sign
the company is committed to a more substantial overhaul of its
strategy in the medium term," said analysts at Credit Suisse in a
note. Standard Chartered's annual results are set for release on
March 4, and "given that Mr. Winters joins only in May, we think it
may be too early to expect any major strategic announcements," the
analysts added.
Other advancers included Associated British Foods PLC , rising
1.8% following an upgrade to buy from hold at Berenberg.
On the losing end of the FTSE 100, RBS (RBS) dropped 4.4% after
the company logged a 2014 net loss of 3.47 billion pounds
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-posts-seventh-loss-in-a-row-after-write-down-2015-02-26)
($5.39 billion) after writing down the value of part-owned U.S.
unit Citizens Financial Group. The bank's seventh straight loss,
which was narrower than last year's loss of GBP9 billion, was the
result of several one-off charges.
Reed Elsevier PLC shares also fell, losing 4.8% as the
publishing and exhibitions company posted a fall in full-year net
profit and revenue
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/reed-elsevier-full-year-profit-falls-2015-02-26-2485424).
EasyJet PLC ended down 2% as the budget airline's shares traded
without dividend rights.
In economic news, U.K. gross domestic product was confirmed to
have grown 0.5% in the fourth quarter. The first GDP reading from
the Office for National Statistics was released in January. The
pound had moved higher following the data, but eventually pulled
back, trading at $1.5424 compared with $1.5530 late Wednesday in
New York.
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