FTSE 250 movers: The AA's hazards lights blinking as Serco soars
London's FTSE 250 was even at 20,371.27 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Tabletop gaming retailer Games Workshop staggered lower after ex-chairman Tom Kirby sold £20m worth of shares at a price £36.50 apiece, representing around 1.7% of the total.
He will hang on to his remaining 4.8% stake for at least 180 more days.
The AA continued its fall after having reported a drop in profits for the first half of the year on Wednesday, for which the roadside repairs organisation blamed a "pothole epidemic" along with extreme winter weather.
Spire Healthcare dropped on a downgrade to 'sell' from Barclays, who noted that the company's shares remain expensive despite their recent poor performance.
"We have been cautious for some time on the NHS business, but have clearly underestimated the magnitude of this impact and, going forward, we struggle to see how margins can improve meaningfully from here without a significant acceleration in the top line," said a note from the broker.
The analysts also suggested that major shareholder Mediclininc should sell its almost 30% stake in Spire as such a move "could mitigate further risks to the Mediclinic business" and restore market confidence in its medium term outlook.
Public sector outsourcer Serco soared as it made an unscheduled announcement confirming that trading is set to be stronger than previous guidance for revenues, profitability and cash flow with net debt set to end the year at a lower level too.
Revenue guidance was lifted to around £2.8bn, up from previous guidance for £2.7-2.8bn, with underlying trading profits now expected to grow 30-40% year on year to £90-95m, up from the £80m indicated before.
"Strong operating performance, together with transformation savings and other cost efficiencies, have resulted in trading in the first few months of the second half being better than we anticipated," Serco said.
In response, Shore Capital reiterated its 'hold' rating of the company's shares.
888 Holdings recovered with strength after dropping the day before despite having reported a first half swing to profitability as revenues in the UK fell sharply due to a government clamp down on the sector.
Car accessories and bikes retailer Halfords recovered too after Thursday trading saw the company's shares skid lower on the back of a management announced that up to £20m a year extra would be diverted to store improvement and integrating services to keep pace with changing consumer trends.
The retailer also benefited after Citigroup reiterated their 'buy' rating for the company's shares.
Finally, Tbilisi-headquartered TBC Bank jumped in afternoon trade after its subsidiary, JSC TBC Bank, on Thursday signed a loan agreement for €30m with the European Investment Bank.
The FTSE 250 company said the five-year loan facility would primarily be used to finance small and medium size enterprises in Georgia.
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,371.27 -0.01%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Serco Group (SRP) 100.50p 13.82%
888 Holdings (888) 201.00p 5.68%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,686.00p 4.07%
Halfords Group (HFD) 320.00p 3.16%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 301.60p 2.94%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 7,415.00p 2.77%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 545.60p 2.44%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 160.80p 2.39%
SSP Group (SSPG) 734.60p 2.26%
On The Beach Group (OTB) 504.00p 2.23%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
AA (AA.) 95.32p -6.82%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,750.00p -5.06%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 140.60p -4.68%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 58.35p -4.66%
Provident Financial (PFG) 597.24p -4.53%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,326.00p -4.19%
Investec (INVP) 539.00p -3.27%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 28.47p -3.09%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,077.50p -2.84%
Quilter (QLT) 136.28p -2.80%