FTSE 250 movers: Oil prices storm as Thomas Cook stuck in holiday hell

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.34% at 20,520.29 in afternoon trade on Monday.

Travel stocks were hit as Thomas Cook warned over its full-year profits as it said unseasonably hot weather hit bookings, sending On The Beach, into the red.

Thomas Cook plummeted after it cut its full year guidance for earnings before interest and tax by around £40-50m to £280m as a result of the hot weather .

"Many customers spent June and July enjoying the sunshine at home and put off booking their holidays abroad, leading to even tougher competition and higher than usual levels of discounting", according to chief executive Peter Fankhauser.

In response to the news, Shore Capital Markets downgraded the company's shares from 'buy' to 'hold'.

"Looking into next year, the statement highlights the continued strategic progress, which we believe can drive material profit improvement over the medium term. Assuming a more normal trading environment we would expect some of this year’s shortfall to be recovered, although the winter is likely to be tougher," said a note from the broker.

Retailer Card Factory also fell ahead of the release of its first half results on Tuesday.

The high street greetings card chain took a big hit last month when it released a profit warning, blaming the warm weather for a downturn in trading, but reiterated its intention to expand its network of 900 stores opening 50 new ones this year.

At the positive end of trading, the oil sector was enjoyed a boost on Monday afternoon as crude oil prices rallied to highs last seen in late 2014, with a barrel of front-month Brent up more than 2% to as high as $80.94 at one point. Mid-cap producers Cairn Energy and Premier Oil were on the rise, while Tullow Oil was also lifted despite the company having plugged and abandoned its Cormorant-1 exploration well offshore Namibia after finding "non-commercial hydrocarbons".

Elsewhere, real estate investor NewRiver REIT jumped after Liberum reiterated its 'buy' rating and target price of 350p, citing the "operational capability" of its management team.

"We believe NewRiver has proven its expertise in managing large pub portfolios and the site visits demonstrated the levers by which management expect to maintain their high yielding income as well as leveraging its property expertise to maximise value," said a note from the broker.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,520.29 -0.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Just Group (JUST) 83.85p 4.62%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 169.50p 4.15%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 265.00p 3.11%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 227.60p 2.99%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 999.00p 2.78%
Premier Oil (PMO) 128.00p 2.65%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 253.20p 2.59%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 255.44p 2.59%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,985.00p 2.57%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 761.60p 2.45%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 59.46p -23.62%
On The Beach Group (OTB) 480.50p -5.60%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,790.10p -4.72%
Card Factory (CARD) 184.70p -4.25%
Capita (CPI) 141.30p -3.71%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,300.00p -3.70%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 109.95p -2.70%
Spectris (SXS) 2,396.00p -2.44%
Sanne Group (SNN) 641.00p -2.44%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 1,306.04p -2.39%