FTSE 250 movers: Berendsen surges on offer; Petrofac gushes lower

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.5% to 19,680.61 in afternoon trade as investors kept a close eye on political developments across the pond.

Commercial laundry group Berendsen rocketed after rejecting a £2.05bn offer from French textile services firm Elis SA.

Euromoney was on the front foot following the release of its interim results, in which it said revenue rose 5% while adjusted pre-tax profit increased to £49.1m from £46.9m.

Cairn Energy gained ground as it announced the results of another successful appraisal well offshore Senegal.

JRP advanced after it said total new business sales in the quarter to the end of March grew 13% to £436m, driven by a large increase in defined benefit de-risking volumes, partly offset by more normal levels of mortgage advances.

TalkTalk was boosted by an upgrade to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets. “We believe the combination of the recent share price fall and the outlook for subs growth…leaves a clear opportunity for investors willing to take a 12-18-month view.”

Cyber security company Sophos was in the black again following its results on Wednesday, as Deutsche Bank upped its price target on the stock to 430p from 350p.

Petrofac was still under the cosh following news last week that it is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, while Bodycote was hit by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Marston’s was on the back foot after it said it has agreed to buy the Charles Wells brewing business from the Charles Wells Group, for a cash consideration of £55m plus working capital adjustments.

Keller fell as its stock went ex-dividend.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Berendsen (BRSN) 1,015.00p 17.54%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,176.00p 5.09%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 207.80p 5.06%
JRP Group (JRP) 134.90p 4.82%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 181.40p 3.89%
Nex Group (NXG) 633.00p 3.77%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 610.00p 3.13%
SSP Group (SSPG) 471.40p 2.97%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 96.30p 2.45%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 400.50p 1.29%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 663.00p -5.49%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 159.70p -4.94%
Keller Group (KLR) 873.00p -4.75%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 245.90p -4.69%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 457.10p -4.51%
Bodycote (BOY) 753.00p -4.50%
Marston's (MARS) 137.90p -4.24%
Evraz (EVR) 181.00p -3.98%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,406.00p -3.95%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 129.70p -3.57%