FTSE 250 movers: Hays rallies but Galliford drops ahead of update
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.4% to 20,861.27 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Dunelm was the standout gainer as it bounced back from heavy losses in the previous session when it reported flat like-for-like revenues and a large pile of unsold clearance stock in the fourth quarter and said it expects full-year underlying profit to drop nearly 7%.
Recruiter Hays was on the front foot as it posted a rise in net fees for the final quarter of the year and said it expects full-year operating profit to be "marginally" ahead of current consensus market expectations.
In the quarter to 30 June, like-for-like net fees grew a record 15%, with net fee growth of 23% in Rest of World, which accounts for 32% of total net fees, and 16% in Germany, which accounts for 25%.
Computacenter rose for the second day in a row after saying 2018 results are likely to be "comfortably in excess" of the expectations set out in its first-quarter trading update following a strong start to the year.
IMI got a boost as HSBC upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and lifted the price target to 1,350p from 1,200p saying it expects a recovery in its core energy markets, which should drive future earnings upgrades.
On the downside, Galliford Try was under pressure ahead of a trading update next week, while Inmarsat crashed back down to earth after surging on Thursday on the back of an upbeat Berenberg note.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 523.80p 7.91%
Hays (HAS) 203.80p 6.59%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,590.00p 5.86%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,738.00p 4.58%
IMI (IMI) 1,144.00p 4.57%
Indivior (INDV) 298.10p 3.94%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,225.00p 3.86%
Premier Oil (PMO) 134.08p 3.45%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 580.00p 3.39%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 811.40p 3.28%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Galliford Try (GFRD) 828.50p -4.22%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 540.32p -3.86%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 648.20p -3.08%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 101.30p -2.78%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,376.00p -2.69%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 517.00p -2.45%
Drax Group (DRX) 355.40p -2.15%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 313.70p -1.97%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 264.00p -1.86%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 266.70p -1.77%