FTSE 250 movers: Turkish chaos hits hard but Esure storms higher after offer

London's second-tier index was down 0.32% at 20,601.77 in afternoon trade on Monday.

Georgian duo TBC Bank and Tbilisi-headquartered Bank of Georgia saw declines in their share prices, continuing a trend that started last week, ahead of the release of the latter firm's first-half results on Wednesday.

In addition, the duo were subject to market jitters as the uncertainty surrounding Turkey's lira was little assuaged by new measures announced by the nation's central bank, including a pledge to provide "all the liquidity the banks need" in order to ensure stability.

Emerging markets-focused asset manager Ashmore also suffered a decline as Turkish uncertainty continued to spread.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Fund management group Ashmore is widely seen as the London-listed bellwether for emerging markets and its shares are unsurprisingly being sold off in the wake of the crisis in Turkey."

"The read-across to Ashmore is fairly straightforward. By selling down its shares, investors are betting that Ashmore could report a big outflow of assets under management when it next updates on trading."

Airline operator and travel firm Thomas Cook, which has exposure to Turkey through its flights and destinations, also suffered fallout from the currency's weakness with its shares dropping in afternoon trading.

Dixons Carphone saw its shares take a hit after the Sunday Telegraph reported that an attempt by new boss Alex Baldock to extract more favourable terms from mobile ­operators has met firm resistance, threatening his pledge to improve ­returns on smartphone contracts.

The paper reported that multiple sources have said that Vodafone’s British arm is finalising a deal to continue its relationship with Dixons Carphone on substantially the same terms for two more years.

Meanwhile, Hill & Smith's shares continued to slump on the back of its poor first-half results last week, in which the company reported falling profits following bad weather and project delays.

Over on the more positive side of things, insurance firms Hastings and Esure racked up healthy gains after the latter confirmed that it had received an unsolicited proposal from private equity firm Bain Capital at 280p per share in cash.

The firm reported that it is in the advanced stages of discussing the possible offer, which represents a premium of around 37% to the closing price of Esure on Friday and a 29% premium to the volume-weighted average price over the last three months.

In response to the news, RBC Capital Markets reiterated its 'outperform' rating on Esure, with a target price of 280p.

Shipping firm Clarkson received a boost despite a tough first quarter and a weaker dollar contributing to a fall in interim profits. The company reported that its pre-tax profits fell 18% to £18.0m on revenues of £152.6m, down 3% year on year, but increased its dividend to 24p a share from 23p after conditions perked up towards the end of the period.

Liberum saw fit to upgrade its outlook on the firm from 'hold' to 'buy' following the results, stating that its confidence in the short-term outlook has improved following the in-line interim results and signs of firmer current trading.

Oilfield services provider Petrofac jumped after it secured a $300m new term-loan from its banks, due to mature in 2020, and won a near-$370m contract in Iraq. It also revealed that it had won a further lump-sum contract from Basra Oil Company for the expansion of a central processing facility in the Majnoon Field, Southern Iraq, following an original engineering, procurement and construction contract in 2011 to build the facility.

Meanwhile, Peel Hunt upgraded its rating of Senior to 'hold' with a target price of 290p, sending the manufacturing and engineering company's shares higher.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,601.77 -0.32%

FTSE 250 - Risers

esure Group (ESUR) 268.70p 31.72%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,836.77p 9.74%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 260.20p 4.08%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 642.30p 3.43%
AA (AA.) 118.95p 3.34%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 627.20p 2.42%
Capita (CPI) 140.05p 2.41%
Contour Global (GLO) 247.80p 2.40%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 215.50p 2.38%
Senior (SNR) 313.20p 2.15%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,599.71p -6.46%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 339.60p -4.87%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,031.00p -4.80%
Intu Properties (INTU) 162.45p -4.41%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 84.85p -3.41%
Just Group (JUST) 97.20p -3.38%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,600.00p -3.03%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 170.75p -2.96%
SSP Group (SSPG) 682.70p -2.94%
Hammerson (HMSO) 494.30p -2.50%