FTSE 250 movers: Centamin dulled as Intu shares build on buyout news
London's FTSE 250 was down 0.80% at 19,927.17 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Centamin tumbled after the gold miner cut its full-year production target following delays in planned operational improvements led to a 25% drop in third quarter output.
The miner's full-year production target was cut to about 480,000 ounces versus estimates in August of 505,000-515,000 ounces.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets labelled the lower guidance, to 15% below their forecasts, as "disappointing" and downgraded their stance to 'sector perform' from 'outperform'.
Also cutting its target price to 105p from 135p, RBC analysts said that the second surprise downgrade to annual production was disappointing on a number of levels as, whilst there was a quarter-on-quarter improvement and exit rates on grade looked OK, the appearance that management had little visibility at the time of the second-quarter downgrade was a worry.
Intu Properties bucked the trend, surging by over 27% as it emerged that one of the company's senior directors is leading a consortium of investment companies to buy the shopping centre owner.
Deputy chairman John Whittaker's Peel Group has teamed-up with Saudi conglomerate Olayan Group and Canary Wharf owner Brookfield Property Group to launch possible offer for Intu.
As a result, Deutsche Bank upgraded the company's shares to 'hold' with a target price of 140p.
Fellow UK property development firm Hammerson, which had abandoned an all-share takeover of Intu in April, also rallied on the news, while Credit Suisse moved to “outperform” from “underperform” on its shares.
Commercial property investment company CLS Holdings was started at 'buy' by Berenberg with a target price of 265p, as its analysts said the company had outperformed the sector materially by having generated average total returns of 19.2% over the past 18 months.
"With a supportive macroeconomic environment, limited new supply and vacancy levels intentionally weighted toward pockets of demand, CLS is well placed to grow rents and occupancy," said Berenberg analysts.
Bodycote was lifted to 'buy' at HSBC with a target price of 1,100p, reasoning that the company's growth profile, reduced cyclicality and cash profile are underappreciated.
"We believe the push to drive its own growth agenda, reduce revenue cyclicality and its high cash generation are strong investment pillars. This is compounded, we believe, by compelling valuation multiples currently and strong valuation upside for its specialist tech businesses," said HSBC analysts.
Real estate investment trust Assura was up after saying it has completed a further three acquisitions for £50m, taking its total spend for the year to £158m.
The acquisitions included the Stratford Healthcare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon, one of the largest primary healthcare facilities in the UK at almost 6,000 square metres, for £30m.
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,927.17 -0.80%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Intu Properties (INTU) 187.65p 26.32%
Hammerson (HMSO) 446.45p 4.24%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 244.50p 2.52%
Marshalls (MSLH) 421.00p 2.13%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 219.00p 1.86%
Rank Group (RNK) 174.40p 1.75%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 509.00p 1.50%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 245.20p 1.41%
Bodycote (BOY) 904.00p 1.40%
Assura (AGR) 55.01p 1.31%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 88.98p -18.18%
Card Factory (CARD) 184.30p -4.51%
Elementis (ELM) 232.70p -4.40%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,698.00p -4.33%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,333.00p -4.17%
Coats Group (COA) 81.20p -3.79%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 531.30p -3.61%
Premier Oil (PMO) 135.95p -3.44%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,710.00p -3.39%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 586.00p -3.30%