FTSE 250 movers: Serco surges on guidance; Wetherspoons slides

London’s FTSE 250 was flat at 17,845.41 in afternoon trade on Friday.

Outsourcer Serco surged after upgrading its 2020 guidance thanks to strong revenue growth in the third quarter and good cost control.

Dixons Carphone advanced after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to ‘sector perform’ from ‘underperform’ and lifted the price target to 100p from 75p.

RBC highlighted its exposure to a strong UK household electricals market and its material international presence which is performing well, albeit with likely macro headwinds to come in 2021.

The bank said the valuation is reasonable, with consensus profit upgrades likely to be supportive in the near term.

On the downside, JD Wetherspoon slumped after the pub chain swung to an annual loss as it felt the full impact of the coronavirus lockdown and said the government’s latest set of curbs had led to a 15% fall in like-for-like sales in the first 11 weeks of the current fiscal year.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of £34m compared with £102m profit a year ago. Revenue fell by a third to £1.26bn and the final dividend was scrapped.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Serco Group (SRP) 137.50p 16.13%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 258.70p 7.17%
FirstGroup (FGP) 49.10p 4.69%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,980.00p 3.98%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 105.00p 3.86%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 215.40p 3.41%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 160.80p 3.34%
Royal Mail (RMG) 245.00p 3.29%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 808.00p 3.19%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 78.00p 3.17%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 813.00p -15.31%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 474.80p -4.77%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 300.00p -3.97%
Derwent London (DLN) 2,668.00p -3.75%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 321.50p -3.45%
Trainline (TRN) 332.20p -3.15%
Redrow (RDW) 444.40p -2.80%
WH Smith (SMWH) 956.00p -2.75%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 4,260.00p -2.74%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 117.60p -2.65%