London markets opened mixed on Tuesday, with strong corporate updates lifting a few heavyweight names while broader sentiment remained cautious.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 9,093.14 in early trade. The FTSE 250 dipped slightly to 21,950.74 and the AIM All-Share slipped 0.3% to 770.41.
AstraZeneca gained 3% after posting a solid set of interim results. The pharmaceutical giant said total revenue rose 9.5% year-on-year to $28.05 billion in the first half of 2025, with pretax profit climbing 26% to $6.53 billion. Diluted EPS jumped 31% to $3.44. CEO Pascal Soriot pledged a $50 billion investment to scale up US operations, including its largest-ever manufacturing project in Virginia.
Games Workshop led the FTSE 100, rising 6% after reporting a record year. Revenue rose 17% to £617.5 million and pretax profit surged 29% to £262.8 million.
ConvaTec added 0.8% as it raised its interim dividend and reiterated guidance. Revenue for the first half climbed 6.0% to $1.18 billion, with pretax profit up 32% to $137.4 million.
On the FTSE 250, Paragon Banking slumped 8.3% after cutting its full-year mortgage lending guidance to £1.6 billion. While other targets were left unchanged, Shore Capital downgraded the stock to ‘hold’.
Outside the main indices, Versarien plunged 27% after failing to secure a buyer for its UK tech assets. It said several subsidiaries, including Versarien Graphene, will enter administration or liquidation, though the parent company will continue operating for now.