A customer plays a game of Warhammer in a Games Workshop store in London. (Photo by: Newscast/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) ·Newscast via Getty Images
Housebuilder Vistry Group (VTY.L) is among the stocks will be relegated from the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), while miniature wargames maker Games Workshop (GAW.L) will be added to the UK blue-chip index.
Games Workshop's promotion makes room for public transport company Mobico Group (MCG.L), formerly the National Express Group, to join the FTSE 250 (^FTMC) in the reshuffle.
The indices are reshuffled by provider FTSE Russell every quarter, with these latest changes based on market cap data at market close on Tuesday 3 December. The changes were confirmed after market close on Wednesday and will take effect from the start of trading on Monday 23 December.
While the FTSE 100 is nearly 8% in the green year-to-date, trading has been choppier in November. Uncertainty over the impact of policy changes announced in the budget, in potentially nudging inflation higher and thereby keeping interest rates elevated for longer, as well as Donald Trump's election victory in the US, have weighed on investor sentiment.
However, there is also specific company news that has driven certain stocks higher and lower.
Vistry said in a trading update at the time that it had discovered that cost projections to complete nine of its 46 developments in its south division had been "understated" by around 10% of the total build costs. As a result, it estimated seeing a one-off impact for revising cost assumptions, expecting profits before tax to be £80m than previously forecast, at £350m ($442m).
In another trading update in early November, Vistry then lowered its pre-tax profit guidance from £350m to £300m, as more details came to light around its cost issues in the division.
The stock is now down 27% year-to-date, giving it a market capitalisation of £2.18bn, according to London Stock Exchange Group data.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said Vistry "had been chasing faster-than-average growth since its transition to a partnership giant, specialising in providing affordable housing by teaming up with local authorities.
"But the scale of recent profit downgrades raised big questions about the new structure and internal controls, and seriously dented the share price."
Mike Ashley's retail company Frasers Group is another stock will leave the FTSE 100, according to LSEG. It has the second smallest market capitalisation in the index, at £3.34bn.
In its latest results, the retail group posted a 8% fall in revenue to £2.54bn ($3.23bn) in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year, compared with the same period last year. Adjusted profit before tax for the first half was 1.5% lower year-on-year at £299.2m.
Frasers said recent trading conditions had been tougher in the wake of the autumn budget and amid weaker consumer confidence.
Given this uncertainty, Frasers said it now expected adjusted profit before tax to be in the range of £550m and £600m for the year, that's down from a previous estimate of £575m to £625m. The company said it also expected to "incur at least £50m of incremental costs going into FY26 as a result of the recent budget".
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: “Life isn’t going to grind to a halt for Frasers but it will have to work harder to shift goods. Even though it is an international business, the largest source of its earnings is the UK."
“Budget-related risks aside, the company continues to reap the benefits of its strategy to go more upmarket," he said.
"It is enjoying rapid profit growth from premium lifestyle interests as a sharp focus on cost efficiencies is helping to offset ongoing challenges in the luxury market," Coatsworth added. "Investment in its warehousing is paying off, with automation benefits now feeding through."
This latest drop in shares has left Frasers' stock 29% in the red year-to-date, with investors having also been focused on the group's headline-making attempts to gain more control at retailers Boohoo (BOO.L) and Mulberry (MUL.L).
Another stock that will be knocked out of the FTSE 100, is bargain retailer B&M European Value Retail.
Shares are down nearly 38% year-to-date, giving the retailer a market capitalisation of £3.49bn.
B&M reported a mixed bag of results last month, posting 3.7% group revenue growth at £2.1bn in the first half. However, group adjusted operating profits had fallen to £258m, down from £263m for the same period last year.
"Keeping existing customers coming back for more is crucial and it seems the product mix has not chimed well enough, despite the pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap approach," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Streeter.
"Nevertheless, it’s store expansion programme is ramping up, with the target of 1,200 stores across the UK, up from 764 this month," she added. "This rapid growth of the store estate will bring higher lease liabilities as well so merchandising expertise in the months ahead will be crucial to ensure sales growth returns to a steadier footing."
Investment trust Alliance Witan is one stock that will be promoted from the FTSE 250 index in this latest reshuffle.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, explained that the "merger of Alliance Trust and Witan to form Alliance Witan was confirmed in October, creating a group with a market capitalisation of £5.1bn with the December reshuffle being the first entry point for its inclusion."
The trust invests across a number of sectors and regions, with top holdings including tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN).
The trust has a delivered a total shareholder return of 17.5% over the past year, though this is slightly behind the 19.9% from generated by the MSCI ACWI total return index.
Over five years, however, Alliance Witan's total shareholder return of 65.7% has beaten that of the MSCI ACWI total return's 64.9%.
Games Workshop Group
Warhammer-maker Games Workshop is another company that will be added to the FTSE 100, with shares up nearly 45% year-to-date and a market capitalisation of £4.7bn.
As a result, the company said it expected core revenue for the six months to be no less than £260m, which would be up from £235m for the same period last year and licensing revenue to be no less than £30m, up from £13m year-on-year. It guided to the group's profit before tax to be no less than £120m, up from £96m for the same period last year.
Streeter said that Games Workshop's "top hit Warhammer 40,000 has had a big year, with the tenth edition launched which drove record revenue, helped by its video game licensing. This push into licensing is a big part of the company’s future growth strategy, with potential forged with Amazon to develop the game into films or series."
"This has all helped Warhammer cement a strong financial position, with a deep well of accessible cash offering the company significant flexibility," she added.
Financial advice firm St James's Place is the third stock that will be added to the FTSE 100 in this latest reshuffle.
Shares are up 28% year-to-date, giving the company a market valuation of £4.72bn.
"The recovery plan underway at St James’s Place has been reaping rewards following a torrid period which saw it booted out of the big-league," said Streeter. "The turbulence was prompted by concerns about its business model following the introduction of the new consumer duty last summer which imposed a legal requirement to treat customers fairly."
"After the company outlined new growth targets and cost-cutting measures in the summer sentiment has improved towards the company," she added.
SJP said it expected to have made £500m in cost savings through to 2030. On Monday, financial trade outlet Citywire reported that SJP was set to make around 500 job cuts in February next year.
A spokesperson for SJP said: "At our half year results in July, we committed to saving £100m per year from the addressable cost base by 2027. Our cost reduction plans are focused on simplification and standardisation of processes within the business, but a programme of this size and scale will inevitably impact colleagues.
"We have now begun consulting with colleagues to share our proposal for how this might impact roles, the outcome of which will not be known until next year."
FTSE 250 stock reshuffles
Meanwhile, stocks that will be added to the FTSE 250 include online delivery firm Deliveroo (ROO.L).
Streeter said that this is thanks to the change in rules around listing requirements in July.
"Since July, the standard and premium segments have now been replaced with a single equity shares category as part of plans to make London more attractive," she said.
Another stock that will be added to the mid-cap index is Diversified Energy Company (DEC.L), which runs older US onshore oil and gas wells.
Other additions are genomic sequencing specialist Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT.L) and mining company Ferrexpo (FXPO.L).
Companies that will be booted out of the FTSE 250 are fuel cell technology company Ceres Power Holdings (CWR.L), financial services firm Close Brothers (CBG.L), consumer goods manufacturer PZ Cussons (PZC.L) and biotechnology company PureTech Health (PRTC.L).
