FTSE 250 movers: Hays recovers, Computacenter caught in downdraft from Sage
London's FTSE 250 was even at 20,721.35 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Recruiter Hays saw its shares recover after dropping on Thursday, despite a 17% jump in full-year profit and the firm boosting its dividend after a "landmark" year that saw solid growth in its international businesses, as its performance in the UK was more subdued.
The firm also benefited from a vote of confidence from broker Liberum, which maintained a 'buy' rating and target price of 215p while saying that the firm's profits were "ahead of our and consensus expectations."
Rathbone Brothers saw its shares jump on Friday after its acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey completed following receipt of approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.
It said the initial consideration of £104m for the purchase, which was announced on 14 June, was satisfied through £79.0m cash and the issue of 1,006,522 new ordinary Rathbones shares to Speirs & Jeffrey shareholders.
Gaming technology company Playtech rallied on news that New York hedge fund Springowl Asset Management has taken a $100.0m stake in the group.
Holiday company Thomas Cook also saw its shares creep upwards despite the continuing controversy surrounding the deaths of two holidaymakers on one of its package trips at the Red Sea all-inclusive resort in Egypt.
On Thursday, it emerged that the travel firm had previously been sued over illnesses at the Egyptian hotel where a British couple died.
Public and private sector computing services firm Computacenter was the day's big faller, dropping over 5% in afternoon trading, with fellow IT specialist Softcat also falling sharply as both companies were caught in the downdraft that ensued after Sage warned on full-year sales.
The former firm has steadily dropped since its sharp rise last Friday after it released solid first-half results, which saw pre-tax profit jump 24.3% to £52.1m as revenue increased 18.1% to just over £2bn.
Victrex crept lower after having reached a 52-week high on wednesday after Peel Hunt upgraded it to 'add' with a target price from 2,400p to 2,850p and Liberum restated a 'buy' rating with a target price of 2,825p.
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,721.35 0.14%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hays (HAS) 203.80p 5.05%
Capita (CPI) 148.87p 4.07%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,614.00p 3.65%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 128.70p 3.37%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 528.00p 3.33%
Playtech (PTEC) 520.80p 3.09%
Contour Global (GLO) 224.00p 2.75%
Premier Oil (PMO) 124.20p 2.73%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 84.80p 2.48%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 941.00p 2.39%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Computacenter (CCC) 1,346.00p -5.21%
Softcat (SCT) 848.00p -4.50%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 153.10p -3.22%
Serco Group (SRP) 98.25p -3.20%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,831.46p -2.36%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 414.40p -1.85%
Senior (SNR) 319.60p -1.66%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 735.00p -1.58%
Victrex plc (VCT) 3,184.00p -1.55%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 625.50p -1.42%