FTSE 250 movers: Vesuvius surges on results but Travis Perkins retreats
The FTSE 250 index was down 0.2% to 18,947.30 in afternoon trade, as investors sifted through corporate releases.
Vesuvius rocketed after it reported a rise in revenue as it benefited from a weak sterling while the molten metal flow engineer embarked on a restructuring programme to cut costs in 2016.
Cobham gained ground as it announced a £500m rights issue after it sank to a huge £848m loss last year.
Energy services group Hunting was on the front foot after saying it was still focusing on cost control for itself and its customers, as sales nearly halved and it swung to an underlying loss in 2016.
Amec Foster Wheeler advanced after saying it expects to have generated £264m of proceeds from selling non-core assets by the end of June.
Challenger bank Aldermore rose after reported a 34% jump in full-year pre-tax profit as mortgage lending grew. For the year to the end of December, underlying pre-tax profit rose to £133m from £99m, as mortgage lending increased 24% to £5.7bn. Consensus expectations had been for profit of £129m.
On the downside, Travis Perkins slumped after it said pre-tax profit for the year dropped 67% on the back of exceptional charges.
Department store Debenhams was under the cosh after Berenberg downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and cut the price target to 46p from 75p.
Risers
Vesuvius (VSVS) 537.50p 15.34%
Cobham (COB) 139.80p 14.40%
Allied Minds (ALM) 411.40p 5.76%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,086.00p 4.22%
Hunting (HTG) 546.50p 4.10%
Carillion (CLLN) 213.20p 3.19%
Ascential (ASCL) 304.40p 3.19%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 451.10p 2.99%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,400.00p 2.87%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 243.60p 2.78%
Fallers
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,461.00p -6.65%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 162.40p -6.29%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 529.50p -5.61%
Debenhams (DEB) 52.00p -5.02%
SIG (SHI) 109.00p -4.39%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,086.00p -3.89%
IP Group (IPO) 152.50p -3.85%
Beazley (BEZ) 422.10p -3.78%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,904.00p -3.49%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,597.00p -2.86%