Northern Rock no more fits FTSE-100 Group in stock market

Northern Rock PLC is no more on the list of FTSE-100.

Photo: Northern Rock no more fits FTSE-100 Group in stock market

Northern Rock, Tate & Lyle PLC, Daily Mail and General Trust PLC, Mitchells and Butler PLC, Punch Taverns PLC, DSG International PLC, and Barratt Developments PLC will all be demoted to the FTSE-250 starting Dec. 24, a decision based on the companies' Tuesday closing prices, the group said.

They will be replaced by seven other companies from the FTSE-250: Cairn Energy PLC, Firstgroup PLC, TUI Travel PLC, Kelda PLC, G4S PLC, Admiral Group PLC, and Thomas Cook Group PLC.

Under FTSE rules, a FTSE-250 index stock is usually automatically promoted to the FTSE-100 index if it moves above 90 in a ranking of companies by market capitalization. When a FTSE-100 stock falls below 110 it is normally automatically demoted.

Northern Rock, has been hit particularly hard by turmoil in the world credit markets, nearly collapsing in September after wholesale money markets - the mortgage bank's main source of funding - dried up.

House builder Barratt Developments PLC has also suffered amid a faltering property market.

Sugar and sweetener company Tate & Lyle says it is struggling against difficult conditions in international sugar trading and a weak U.S. dollar.

DSG International recently reported a 25-percent fall in first-half profits.

Among the companies on the rise, Thomas Cook became Europe's second-biggest travel company when Germany-based Thomas Cook bought Britain's MyTravel PLC earlier this year. TUI Travel, Europe's largest tour operator, absorbed Britain's First Choice Holidays PLC earlier this year.