FTSE 250 movers: Elementis gains on acquisition, Just Eat slumps

London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.4% to 18,698.12 in afternoon trade.

Elementis rallied after saying it has entered into an agreement to acquire specialty chemicals platform SummitReheis from an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners for an enterprise value of $360m.

Dunelm was on the front foot as Numis upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘add’ and reiterated a target price of 825p.

The homewares chain on Wednesday reported a 26% fall in pre-tax profit to £55.9m in the first half, blaming a weaker market and a temporary disruption to supply following its recent acquisition of Worldstores. Margins were also hurt by a weaker pound following the Brexit vote last June.

Fund manager Ashmore gained ground as UBS upped its price target on the stock to 390p from 350p and reiterated its ‘buy’ rating following its most recent interims and a detailed analysis of its quarterly gross inflows.

Amec Foster Wheeler was higher after Redburn upgraded its stance on the stock.

On the downside, online food ordering and delivery service Just Eat was the worst performer after it announced that, due to urgent family matters, David Buttress had informed the board of his intention to step down from his role as chief executive officer.

Electrocomponents was weaker despite saying revenue in the four months to 31 January grew as it implemented initiatives to stabilise its gross margin and reduce costs.

Pub group Greene King declined despite reporting strong trading over the Christmas period and sounding an upbeat note on its outlook, as Canaccord Genuity cut its price target on lowered its guidance on the stock.

Risers

Elementis (ELM) 297.50p 8.10%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 465.70p 6.76%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 552.50p 5.24%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 646.50p 4.70%
Berendsen (BRSN) 938.00p 4.40%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 349.30p 4.27%
Evraz (EVR) 251.70p 4.22%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 264.10p 3.77%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,800.00p 3.75%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 459.30p 3.28%

Fallers

Just Eat (JE.) 517.50p -6.67%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 474.70p -5.81%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,571.00p -5.08%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 560.00p -2.95%
Greene King (GNK) 681.50p -2.78%
Senior (SNR) 194.00p -2.07%
William Hill (WMH) 271.90p -1.95%
Halma (HLMA) 951.50p -1.50%
Essentra (ESNT) 438.40p -1.42%
Spectris (SXS) 2,328.00p -1.36%