Sports Direct and Aberdeen Asset Management will drop out of the UK's benchmark FTSE-100 equity index after a drop in their share prices since the start of 2016.
Other companies to be relegated from the top UK shares index will be diversified engineering company Smiths Group and Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the London Stock Exchange said on Wednesday.
Those four companies will be replaced in the FTSE 100 by gambling company Paddy Power Betfair, supermarket operator WM Morrison, publishing company Informa and private hospital operator Mediclinic International.
Getting into the FTSE 100 can often fuel further demand for a company's shares, since funds that track the FTSE or invest in the index can then add that stock to their portfolio, while the inverse is true if a company falls out of the FTSE 100.
Shares in sportswear retailer Sports Direct, founded and majority owned by billionaire Mike Ashley, have been hit by a profit warning. They have 27 fallen per cent since the start of 2016.
Aberdeen Asset Management's shares have fallen around 10 per cent since the start of 2016, with the fund management company hit by a slump in emerging markets.
Aberdeen Asset shares were up 14.5p on the day at 261.7p. Sports Direct was up 9.5p at 419.8p.
The rankings are decided on market capitalisation. The changes will take effect on March 21.
The FTSE-100 fell on Wednesday, with the market's earlier gains fizzling out as oil prices weakened, while shares in ITV and Intertek also declined.
The index ended down 0.1 percent at 6,147.06 points, closing lower for the first time in four days. The FTSE is down by around 2 percent since the start of 2016, and 14 percent below an April 2015 record high.
Television and media group ITV fell 3.5 percent, as the company's cautious outlook about its advertising revenue offset more positive factors such as higher earnings and a special dividend payout.
"It would appear that a drop in viewing numbers on its main ITV channel has raised concerns that despite rising advertising revenues, the company is losing market share," said CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson.
Intertek, which carries out tests to ensure the safety of products, also fell 4.6 percent as its annual results underwhelmed some investors while Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the stock.
Engineer Rolls-Royce edged 3p lower to 680p, after it said it had given US activist shareholder ValueAct a seat on its board in a move that will give the investor influence over the engine maker as its seeks to turn around its fortunes.
Bradley Singer - a partner and chief operating officer at San Francisco-based fund ValueAct - will become a member of Rolls-Royce's science and technology committee.
In the FTSE 250 Index, lender Virgin Money said annual pre-tax profits surged 53% to £160.3 million in 2015 as its growth in mortgages, savings and credit cards remained a step ahead of the market.
It also cheered investors - including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group - with its first full-year dividend after floating in 2014.
Shares jumped 7%, or 23.8p to 364p.
Traders said February's unexpected dip in the UK's construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) to a 10-month low had weighed on the London stock market.
"A weaker than forecast construction PMI has not helped," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
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