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MARKET COMMENT
By
Twenty years ago, the FTSE 100 was born. The index was set at 1,000 on 3 January 1984 (though the first day of trading use came seven weeks later) and, after touching 6,930 four years ago, closed at 4,477 on 31 December 2003. Superseding the FT 30 index, the 'Footise' drastically improved the reporting of the London market. Among the advantages of the new blue chip index were the weighting on constituent market size, the covering of a wider range of companies, the introduction of quarterly index promotions and relegations and the availability of real-time calculations. Where are they now? Twenty years though is a long time in the market. Over the past two decades, the FTSE 100 has seen numerous changes to its starting line-up. Though 42 of the original 100 shares remain in the blue chip index, rampant merger and acquisition activity has changed the names and substance of almost all of these stalwarts. Another 36 of the class of 1984 have been acquired, while four were either broken up or pursued de-mergers. Fourteen members of the initial FTSE 100 have since been relegated to the FTSE 250, while three -- Enodis (LSE: ENO) (formerly Berisford), Elementis (LSE: ELM) (formerly Harrisons and Crosfield) and House of Fraser (LSE: HOF) -- have slid all the way down to the small-cap index. Finally, two -- Ferranti and British & Commonwealth Shipping -- went bust, proving there's no such thing as an entirely safe blue chip. The table below recounts what happened to the original 100 (those in bold remain in the leading index). No doubt some of today's famous FTSE names will become as be as memorable as Exco International, Magnet & Southerns and Standard Telephone & Cable in 2024. More: Beware Of Buy And Forget | Old FT 30 Shares Never Die The author owns shares in GlaxoSmithKlineOriginal member Current Status
Allied-Lyons Allied Domecq
Associated British Foods *
Associated Dairies Acquired
BAT Industries *
BICC Balfour Beatty (FTSE 250)
BOC *
BPB Industries (FTSE 250)
BTR Invensys (FTSE 250)
Barclays *
Barratt Development (FTSE 250)
Bass Broken up
Beecham Acquired
Berisford (S&W) Enodis (FTSE Small Cap)
Blue Circle Industries Acquired
Boots *
British Aerospace BAE Systems
British & Commonwealth Shipping Bankrupt
British Electric Traction Acquired
British Home Stores Acquired
British Petroleum *
Britoil Acquired
Bowater Rexam
Burton Acquired
Cable & Wireless *
Cadbury Schweppes *
Charterhouse J. Rothschild Broken up
Commercial Union Assurance Aviva
Consolidated Gold Field Acquired
Courtaulds Acquired
Dalgety Broken up
Distillers Acquired
Edinburgh Investment Trust (FTSE 250)
English China Clays Acquired
Exco International Acquired
Ferranti Bankrupt
Fisons Acquired
General Accident Fire & Life Acquired
General Electric Marconi (FTSE 250)
Glaxo GlaxoSmithKline
Globe Investment Trust Acquired
Grand Metropolitan Diageo
Great Universal Stores *
Guardian Royal Exchange Acquired
Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds GKN
Hambro Life Assurance Acquired
Hammerson (FTSE 250)
Hanson Trust Hanson
Harrisons & Crosfield Elementis (FTSE Small Cap)
Hawker Siddeley Acquired
House of Fraser (FTSE Small Cap)
Imperial Chemical Industries *
Imperial Continental Gas Acquired
Imperial Imperial Tobacco
Johnson Matthey *
Ladbroke Hilton
Land Securities *
Legal & General *
Lloyds Bank Lloyds TSB
MEPC Acquired
MFI Furniture (FTSE 250)
Magnet & Southerns Acquired
Marks & Spencer *
Midland Bank Acquired
National Westminster Bank Acquired
Northern Foods (FTSE 250)
Pearson (S) & Son Pearson
Peninsular & Oriental Steam (FTSE 250)
Pilkington Brothers (FTSE 250)
Plessey Acquired
Prudential Assurance Prudential
RMC (FTSE 250)
Racal Electronics Acquired
Rank Organisation (FTSE 250)
Reckitt & Colman Reckitt Benckiser
Redland Acquired
Reed International Reed Elsevier
Rio Tinto-Zinc Rio Tinto
Rowntree-Mackintosh Acquired
Royal Bank of Scotland *
Royal Insurance RSA
Sainsbury (J) *
Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Scottish & Newcastle
Sears Broken up
Sedgwick Acquired
Shell Transport & Trading *
Smith & Nephew *
Standard Chartered *
Standard Telephone & Cable Acquired
Sun Alliance & London Insurance Acquired
Sun Life Assurance Society Acquired
Tarmac Acquired
Tesco *
Thorn EMI EMI
Trafalgar House Acquired
Trusthouse Forte Acquired
Ultramar Acquired
Unilever *
United Biscuits Acquired
Whitbread *
Wimpey (George) (FTSE 250)