FTSE 250 movers: Spirent surges on profit guidance; Just Group hit by downgrade
London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.6% at 21,687.83 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Telecoms company Spirent Communications surged to the top of the index after increasing its full-year profit guidance as customers continued to invest in 5G infrastructure. Spirent said it now expected to report an adjusted operating profit in the range of $91m to $93m for the 2019 fiscal year, up from $77.1m last year. Revenue rose by 5.5% to $503m.
Ferrexpo rose after the iron ore pellet producer said higher prices helped offset cost increases as it reported a slight fall in annual production.
Pennon racked up strong gains following reports that the South West Water owner was preparing to sell off its Viridor waste management business after rejecting a £4bn bid from US private equity firm KKR.
Savills rallied as it said underlying results for the year to the end of December were set to be at the upper end of the board’s expectations following an "excellent" performance in the UK.
Avast was in the green after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan while Ashmore was lifted by an upgrade at Barclays.
On the downside, Just Group was in the red after a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Credit Suisse, while Cairn Energy was weaker after being cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO and Sanne was trading lower after HSBC downgraded its recommendation on the stock to ‘hold’.
888 Holdings and GVC Holdings were both under pressure following news that the Gambling Commission was set to ban bookmakers from taking credit card deposits for betting online in a bid to protect vulnerable customers.
Mitchells & Butlers fizzed lower after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan and Man Group was hit by a downgrade to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ at Barclays.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Spirent Communications (SPT) 236.00p 15.40%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 156.00p 7.14%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,073.00p 6.55%
Savills (SVS) 1,211.00p 5.40%
Softcat (SCT) 1,202.00p 4.43%
Avast (AVST) 519.50p 4.02%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,622.00p 3.31%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 501.00p 3.30%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 937.80p 3.05%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 529.00p 2.92%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Just Group (JUST) 77.15p -6.03%
Man Group (EMG) 152.85p -3.56%
Sanne Group (SNN) 627.00p -2.94%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 420.50p -2.89%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 154.00p -2.84%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 195.10p -2.35%
Hunting (HTG) 392.20p -2.34%
888 Holdings (888) 152.10p -2.31%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 458.90p -2.30%
Future (FUTR) 1,392.00p -2.11%