FTSE 100 falls, with Standard Life lower after results

(Close): The FTSE 100 fell, with shares in Standard Life lower after it said its annuities business had suffered from recent pension reforms.

Standard Life said it new business from annuity sales was expected to fall by £10m-£15m this year.

Shares in Standard Life were down 3.26%, despite the insurer reporting a 6% rise in half-year operating profit to £290m.

The FTSE 100 index was down 2.05 points at 6,686.57.

Travis Perkins pulled back from its worst falls to end down 1.9%. The building and DIY group reporting a 9% rise in half-year operating profits to £182m.

Shares in Smiths Group jumped 4.4% after the Financial Times said US activist hedge fund ValueAct had taken a stake in the engineering firm.

Meggitt was another company on the up, it gained throughout the day to end almost 8% higher after the engineering components firm said it was on track to meet its full-year forecasts.

Royal Bank of Scotland shares showed little reaction to the news that the government had begun to sell shares in the bank. It ended up 0.4% at 339p.

The government said it had sold a 5.4% stake in the bank at 330p each, raising £2.1bn. RBS shares dipped 2.2p, or 0.7%, to 335.4p.

In the FTSE 250, shares in Just Eat fell 3.4%, despite the online takeaway food service reporting another bumper rise in sales and profits.

In the first half of the year, revenues jumped by more than 50% to £107.8m, with net profits up 57% to £9.4m.

On the currency markets, the pound rose 0.18% against the dollar to $1.5615, and gained 0.13% against the euro to €1.4248.