3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today: Johnson Matthey PLC (JMAT)

LONDON — The FTSE 100 is moving sideways, up 0.15%, and it looks set to end the week above the 6,300 level. It’s been a week of mainly negative economic news after we heard that the German and French economies shrank in the final quarter of 2012 and that U.K. retail spending was down in January.

Individual companies are suffering, too. Here are three whose share prices are falling today.

Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT)
Johnson Matthey shares have dropped 1% to 2,274 pence after the firm announced an extension to its metal-supply agreement with Anglo American Platinum. Why is that bad? Well, the new deal, which comes into effect from Dec. 31, 2013 on expiry of current contracts, is not as favorable as the old agreement and will lead to a loss of commission income of about 35 million pounds for the full year.

But on the upside, chief executive Neil Carson said: “We are pleased that we are able to extend our long relationship with Anglo Platinum and secure an extension to our metal supply agreement. This will enable us to continue to service our customers with confidence.”

Centrica PLC (LON:CNA)
Centrica shares have dipped a little today, down 0.8% to 347 pence at the time of writing after the company confirmed press speculation that the firm’s director responsible for British Gas, Phil Bentley, is to step down from the post.

A proposal for Bentley to be replaced by Chris Weston is apparently in the pipeline, and, if approved by the board, it should be announced on Feb. 27 at the same time the company releases full-year results.

Greencore Group plc (LON:GNC)
Shares in Greencore have slumped by 10% to 92 pence after it was revealed that the firm supplied a Beef Bolognese product to Asda that has been withdrawn after horse DNA was detected. Three other Greencore products have also been withdrawn as a precautionary measure, though they have not been found to contain any horse, and further test results are awaited.

The total revenue contribution from all the suspended Asda products is apparently less than 1 million pounds out of Greencore’s most recent 1.2 billion pounds in annual turnover.

The article 3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alan Oscroft.

Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

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