FTSE 250 movers: AO World loses ground; IMI in the black

London’s FTSE 250 was down 1.2% at 17,175.21 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

AO World was under pressure after saying it experienced strong demand during the Covid-19 crisis but was cautious about the outlook as it reported a smaller annual loss.

The online household appliance retailer's operating loss for the year to the end of March narrowed to £3.8m from £13m as total revenue rose to £1.05bn from £902.5m.

Going the other way, engineer IMI was on the front foot after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’.

"We have always had a positive view on the restructuring potential in the group, but this was previously countered by cyclical and partly structural headwinds," it said. "While some headwinds remain, with focus moved beyond 2020E the significant self-help potential can drive the investment case for a share trading at the low end of its 30-year sector relative rating range."

FTSE 250 - Risers

National Express Group (NEX) 171.10p 5.16%
Just Group (JUST) 50.95p 5.09%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 291.40p 2.93%
Royal Mail (RMG) 176.30p 2.65%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,683.00p 2.56%
IP Group (IPO) 66.30p 2.00%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 652.40p 1.65%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 354.20p 1.32%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 302.20p 1.14%
IMI (IMI) 972.00p 1.04%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AO World (AO.) 149.00p -9.15%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,246.00p -6.88%
Meggitt (MGGT) 298.30p -6.37%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 289.20p -6.35%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,275.00p -5.99%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 2,315.00p -5.51%
Hammerson (HMSO) 74.82p -5.51%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,075.00p -5.47%
Carnival (CCL) 948.60p -5.14%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 53.70p -5.12%