Break-up theories put Reckitt in spotlight Break-up theories made Reckitt Benckiser a talking point in a flat London market. Reckitt should sell its pharmaceuticals business, according to Oriel Securities. Disposing of the RBP division, which makes the Suboxone heroin substitute and provides about a fifth of group profits, would help eliminate Reckitt's discount to peers, it said. "It is neither a group priority nor, right now, a growth driver," said Oriel. Reckitt Benckiser's core enjoys enough free cash flow not to have to rely on RBP. Reckitt has been under pressure to sell RBI since Suboxone pills lost patent protection three years ago, opening the drug up to generic competition. Oriel valued the unit at £3.5bn and said every additional £500m of disposal premium would be worth 70p a share more to its £52 target price. Reckitt edged 0.2 per cent higher to £46.00, matching a wider market trend that lifted the FTSE 100 by 0.3 per cent, or 18.47 points, to 6,529.68. Miners helped steady the FTSE after Chinese trade data topped expectations. Anglo American advanced 4.3 per cent to £14.55, Antofagasta added 3.8 per cent to 876.5p and Glencore took on 3.7 per cent to 280.4p. Rio Tinto firmed 2.1 per cent to £30.17 on in-line results and in spite of news that management had abandoned plans to sell its Pacific Aluminium business having not received any acceptable bids. Profit-taking carried Schroders 5.3 per cent lower at £23.68 after the fund manager reported second-quarter outflows of £1.1bn and said investor demand remained unpredictable. RBC, noting that the stock was trading at a 25 per cent premium to peers, said: "Over the long term, Schroders is well positioned to generate shareholder value but, in the near term, we believe the valuation is stretched." Standard Life faded 2.6 per cent to 377.5p after a poor performance of its Canadian business meant half-year operating profit missed consensus forecasts. Sector peer Aviva was up 7.6 per cent to 399p on interims showing management's progress to stabilise the business by cutting intercompany debt. Imperial Tobacco faded 1.2 per cent to £21.32. Redburn Partners argued that Imperial was more at risk than rivals to disruption from the development of safer alternatives to tobacco, such as e-cigarettes. "As technology becomes the battleground, growth becomes less certain and costs rise," Redburn said. The short-term risk to earnings is modest. But the market is likely to adjust to the prospect of less profitable, more volatile growth in the long term, implying a potential derating of the sector. Ladbrokes slid 3.9 per cent to 199.6p after its interim results showed UK retail earnings down a sharper-than-expected 20 per cent. The bookmaker, which had already warned on earnings in April, said it had been further affected by hot weather, tax changes, competition and unfavourable horse racing results. Enterprise Inns moved 5.2 per cent higher to 148p after its said sales over the most recent five weeks had turned positive. Ferrexpo was down 1.5 per cent to 182.2p after Goldman Sachs cut the iron ore pellet producer from its "buy" list, largely on valuation grounds. With the iron ore market likely to be structurally oversupplied into 2015, Ferrexpo's strong industry position would not be enough to avoid a sharp fall in earnings, Goldman said. Carillion faded 2.3 per cent to 292.5p after Morgan Stanley, house broker to the support services group, started coverage with an "equal weight" rating. Weak demand for energy services presented a near-term risk, it argued. Chariot Oil & Gas jumped 17.1 per cent to 20.5p after Cairn Energy bought a share of its frontier exploration block off the coast of Mauritania. Cairn put up $26m of funding costs for the block, equivalent to 8.6p per Chariot share, and suggested it may look to take over ownership of the prospect by increasing its stake to over 50 per cent. Cairn moved 2.9 per cent higher to 274.6p.