FTSE 250 movers: Countrywide slumps but Thomas Cook gains on results

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.3% to 17,634.10 in afternoon trade as investors mulled over Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement.

Countrywide was under the cosh as Hammond announced plans to clamp down on letting agent fees.

Housebuilders Berkeley Group and Crest Nicholson were on the back foot despite the announcement of a £2.3bn fund to build up to 100,000 new homes in high demand areas and a £1.4bn injection into affordable housing schemes.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said investors may be disappointed by a lack of stamp duty reversal.

CMC Markets declined as it reported a slump in revenue and profits for the first half.

On the upside, travel company Thomas Cook was the standout gainer. Although it reported a drop in profit and revenue for the year to the end of September as it took a hit from a series of terror attacks, underlying profit from operations beat analysts’ expectations.

Pre-tax profit in the period fell to £42m from £50m the year before, as revenue declined 22% to £7.81bn. Underlying profit from operations (earnings before interest and taxes) was down 2% to £308m. Credit Suisse had been expecting underlying profits from operations of £298m, while Numis had pencilled in £296m.

Hunting gushed higher as Credit Suisse upped its stance on the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted the price target to 575p from 500p saying the company is turning a corner.

CS said that with greater exposure to well completions and US unconventionals, Hunting should have more operational leverage to this recovery cycle than 2009.

“The recent improvement in orders suggests customers have consumed excess inventories of certain product lines. Rig count (up more than 50% from the bottom across major basins) and drilled but uncompleted completion trends add substance to this thesis, while a Trump administration should also be a boon to the US Oil & Gas Industry. All this suggests a brighter outlook for HTG.”

Mortgage provider Paragon Group was higher after saying it drove annual profits up as it transitions to a retail bank, hiking its dividend more than 20% and announcing a share buyback to further please investors.

Inhaler maker Vectura was also in the black as it said interim revenue jumped following the merger with rival Skyepharma and a launch of new products.

Risers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 78.90p 7.27%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 226.50p 5.59%
Rotork (ROR) 236.30p 4.28%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 161.20p 3.93%
Hunting (HTG) 527.00p 3.84%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,825.00p 3.83%
Evraz (EVR) 270.90p 3.08%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 371.30p 2.57%
Vectura Group (VEC) 149.80p 2.39%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,796.00p 1.93%

Fallers

Countrywide (CWD) 192.10p -6.11%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,422.00p -4.80%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 193.90p -4.53%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,041.00p -3.61%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 214.80p -3.46%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 304.80p -3.27%
IP Group (IPO) 142.20p -2.80%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 357.90p -2.74%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 440.00p -2.74%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 651.00p -2.69%