Burberry Group PLC in fashion after upgrading full-year expectations

() was the top riser in the FTSE 100, jumping 7% to 2,122p in the early afternoon after posting an unscheduled trading update.

The luxury fashion powerhouse said revenue and adjusted operating profit for the year to March 27 are expected to be ahead of consensus as trading rebounds.

Full-year group revenue is now forecast to decline between 10% and 11%, with adjusted operating margin to be in the range of 15.5% to 16.5%.

11.55am: Playtech drops after expressing caution about recovery

() shed 5% to 469.6p at midday after expressing caution about retail recovery as its major markets will remain in lockdown into the second quarter.

The gambling software developer said 2021 had a good start considering the ongoing restrictions.

In the year to December 31, revenue tumbled 25% to €1bn, while adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) was down 32% to €253mln.

10.45am:  moves higher after promise of strategic review 

PLC () added 4% to 33.83p in the late morning after chief executive Rita-Rose Gagné announced a strategic review.

The property owner, which posted a full-year loss of £1.73bn due to write-downs of £1.44bn, plans further disposals to strengthen the balance sheet, managing refinancing and sharpening its operations to maximise income.

“We will then focus on realising the quality of our destinations to drive the business forward. We are currently working on a thorough strategic and organisational review that will map out a route to future growth to transform the business in the context of what will remain a tough economic and structural backdrop,” Gagné revealed.

9.45am: Hollywood Bowl a touch lower after proposing placing to raise £30mln

PLC () shed 4% to 239p in mid-morning after proposing a placing to raise £30mln.

The ten-pin bowling operator is launching the cash call to invest in new centres, resume its planned capital expenditure programme in existing venues and to strengthen the balance sheet.

The placing price will be decided after completing the bookbuild process.

Meanwhile, Holdings PLC () was down 6% to 4,301.9p after forecasting flat profits in the financial year to February 2022.

The housebuilder said current trading is volatile, as new developments and phases have been juggled until the economy opens up post-lockdown, so the value of reservations for the current financial year will be around 20% lower than last year.

Sales reservations have been robust where it has had stock, it added.

8.45am:  rises early after offloading Peter Brotherhood arm for £35mln

PLC () advanced 9% to 329p at the opening bell after completing the sale of Peter Brotherhood to Howden, a provider of mission critical air and gas handling products.

The arm, which specialises in the design, manufacture and servicing of performance-critical steam turbines, turbo gen-sets, compressors, gear boxes and combined heat and power systems, was sold for £35mln.

said it acquired Peter Brotherhood when it was in difficulty so it implemented a strategy reset, however the subsidiary now requires a multi-year programme of investment to step up performance.

Elsewhere, () rose 4% to 175.25p on the back of a £470,000 agreement with the UK government’s Department of Health & Social Care.

The AI specialist will provide its MagnifEye software to transform smartphones into COVID-19 test readers as part of a pilot study.

The agreement follows on from Sensyne’s exclusive licence and development agreement with Excalibur Healthcare Services, announced last month, for the use of MagnifEye with Excalibur’s proprietary lateral flow rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tests.