FTSE 250 movers: Wood Group rallies on results; Bodycote hit by downgrade
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.3% to 20,597.68 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.
Wood Group was the top gainer after it reported "strong" organic growth in its first-half year results, with total revenue rising 13.4% to $5.38bn. Total EBITA for the six months ended 30 June was at the upper end of its $250m to $260m guidance range, which it said reflected continued momentum in trading and the delivery of cost and revenue synergies.
Aggreko racked up strong gains after HSBC upgraded the power provider to 'buy' from 'hold' and hiked the price target to 1,050p from 740p, saying most of its problems are cyclical rather than strategic.
"Much of the market narrative attributes Aggreko’s profit decline to structural woes such as overcapacity, emergence of renewable energy, distributed power, gas and new entrants. We think that much of the issues are probably cyclical. The underlying demand environment is improving and temporary power has been a late cyclical industry in the past. Leading indicators suggest a recovery in demand, if our thesis is correct."
Contour Global was on the front foot as RBC Capital Markets lifted its price target to 325p from 310p.
"We believe the ContourGlobal investment case is compelling with the current share price attributing minimal value to the development pipeline and potentially value accretive M&A," it said.
On the downside, heat treatment and thermal processing services specialist Bodycote was under the cosh after a downgrade to 'sell' at Panmure Gordon.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 704.40p 6.50%
Rank Group (RNK) 171.20p 4.39%
Aggreko (AGK) 878.40p 4.30%
Capita (CPI) 143.55p 3.42%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,957.25p 2.85%
Contour Global (GLO) 232.62p 2.75%
AA (AA.) 115.00p 2.68%
Redrow (RDW) 547.00p 2.63%
Card Factory (CARD) 181.80p 2.42%
SIG (SHI) 125.00p 2.38%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,090.00p -4.39%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 280.50p -2.94%
Indivior (INDV) 265.30p -2.21%
Genus (GNS) 2,788.00p -2.04%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 364.30p -1.51%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 83.81p -1.45%
CYBG (CYBG) 343.60p -1.38%
Bodycote (BOY) 1,003.00p -1.38%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 153.65p -1.32%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,250.00p -1.22%