Fund manager Abrdn drops from FTSE 100 in reshuffle

Fund management giant Abrdn and home improvements firm Howden Joinery have been relegated from the FTSE 100 index of London’s biggest listed companies.

It comes as the FTSE Russell Group confirmed the results for its latest quarterly reshuffle of firms on its main indexes.

“Cheap UK assets, volatility in financial markets, the cost-of-living crisis and a structural shift in the movie industry are all factors behind the moves to be announced in the latest FTSE quarterly review,” commented Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Abrdn, which recently rebranded from Standard Life Aberdeen having formed following a 2017 mega-merger, is among the big firms to slip out of the FTSE 100 and into the FTSE 250.

The fund manager has seen its share value slide by around 40% over the past year.

It was valued at around £11 billion following the 2017 merger but currently has a market capitalisation of just over £3.1 billion.

Earlier this month, the company tumbled to a £320 million pre-tax loss as a result of recent market turmoil.

Elsewhere, the FTSE Russell also confirmed that Howden Joinery will fall out of the top index.

The builders’ merchant group, which was only promoted to the FTSE 100 in the spring, has fallen back after a softening of sentiment about the home improvement sector as the housing market has cooled in the face of rising living costs.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals is the third company to exit the top index.

Hikma has seen its shares slide after growth ground to a halt and its chief executive headed for the door in recent months.

FTSE Russell confirmed that the relegated firms will be replaced by ConvaTec Group, F&C Investment Trust and Harbour Energy.

Harbour, the North Sea’s biggest oil and gas producer, has been among the big winners from the recent energy crisis and reported last week that its latest half-year profits increased 12-fold.

Meanwhile, Bluefield Solar Income Fund, NextEnergy Solar Fund, PureTech Health, Twentyfour Income Fund and Warehouse REIT were all promoted to the FTSE 250 after strong recent performances.

They will replace Chrysalis Investments, Greencore, Provident Financial, Tyman and XP Power in the index.