FTSE 250 movers: Michael Page slides after profit warning, AO tops leaderboard

The share price of Michael Page International dived after the recruitment firm delivered a profit warning, saying that its full-year bottom line would be "modestly lower than consensus market expectations". The company also said it was more cautious than it was previously on the short-term outlook for a number of international markets.

Also in the red was emerging markets asset manager Ashmore Group, which saw its assets under management (AuM) decrease by $3.7bn in the first quarter, driven mostly by poor investment performance. AuM was $71.3bn at 30 September as a result of negative investment performance of $3.4bn and net outflows of $0.3bn.

AO World led the upside, but made only a slight dent in the heavy losses seen in its share price since its flotation earlier this year. Since its initial public offering in February, the stock has tumbled more than 58%. Analyst Mike Stewart at Shore Capital upgraded the stock to 'hold' on the belief that it is now trading at fair value.

As it unveiled a gleaming set of annual results, housebuilder Bellway helped lift its share price even further by revealing that it expected to deliver volume growth of around 10% in the new financial year based on the record size of its order book. The group has taken about 128 reservations per week in the nine weeks since 1 August, which is up 5% on this point last year, increasing the order book by a third on last year to 4,435 homes and its record value of £975.4m.

Afren rose on the news it has fired its chief executive officer, Osman Shahenshah, and chief operating officer, Shahid Ullah, for gross misconduct after an independent review found they had received unauthorised payments from the group. The oil explorer has started legal proceedings against both men. The company has also rid its board of associate directors Iain Wright and Galib Virani, who, in addition to a further seven current and former employees, also received unauthorised payments.

FTSE 250 - Risers

AO World (AO.) 170.00p +10.39%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 59.35p +5.04%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 299.70p +4.57%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 94.35p +4.20%
Bellway (BWY) 1,545.00p +4.18%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 187.90p +3.93%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 74.70p +3.75%
Computacenter (CCC) 610.50p +3.56%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 777.50p +3.46%
Afren (AFR) 100.70p +3.33%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Michael Page International (MPI) 378.40p -8.95%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 219.50p -2.88%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 149.30p -2.86%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 160.10p -2.56%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 1,400.00p -2.30%
Poundland Group (PLND) 305.50p -2.08%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 295.30p -2.02%
Hellermanntyton Group (HTY) 284.50p -2.00%
SSP Group (SSPG) 232.10p -1.94%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,193.00p -1.89%