FTSE 250 movers: N Brown lifted by upgrade; IWG tanks on warning

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.8% to 20,093.25 in afternoon trade on Thursday as investors digested the latest UK retail sales data.

Acacia Mining shone after parent Barrick Gold agreed for the Tanzanian government to take a 16% stake in the London-listed company's three mines in the country and to share revenues. Barrick, which owns 63% of Acacia, has agreed for the company to pay Tanzania a one-off $300m as a show of good faith.

Clothing retailer N Brown was lifted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at HSBC, while Softcat continued to prowl higher after strong results earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, Marshalls was in the black after announcing a bolt-on, earnings-enhancing acquisition and builders' merchant Travis Perkins rallied as it said it was on track to achieve full-year expectations despite a cautious outlook.

Going the other way, IWG, the company formerly known as Regus, took a battering after it warned that 2017 profit is now expected to be materially below market expectations and in a range of £160m to £170m. Peer Workspace Group was also dragged lower.

NEX Group was under the cosh after RBC Capital Markets cut the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘sector perform’. The bank said it was reducing its earnings per share forecasts by 13%/8%/7% in FY18/FY19/FY20 and lower our price target to 600p from 650p.

“While NEX has a number of positives, we believe the shares continue to trade above their fair value despite an increasingly challenging outlook,” it said.

Intu Properties was weaker as its stock went ex-dividend.

Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 225.50p 23.56%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 334.50p 8.15%
Softcat (SCT) 487.90p 4.81%
Marshalls (MSLH) 459.70p 3.96%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 232.30p 2.24%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 842.50p 2.00%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 219.00p 1.81%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 143.70p 1.77%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,495.00p 1.56%
Just Group (JUST) 152.00p 1.33%

Fallers

IWG (IWG) 211.50p -33.72%
Nex Group (NXG) 624.00p -4.88%
Intu Properties (INTU) 223.30p -4.78%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 181.50p -4.67%
Mitie Group (MTO) 236.10p -4.49%
Workspace Group (WKP) 904.50p -3.73%
Evraz (EVR) 315.00p -3.37%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 691.00p -3.36%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,083.00p -2.87%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 126.00p -2.78%