FTSE 250 movers: Energy stocks surge, Carillion higher on Outland acquisition

The London market shook off early morning losses in the afternoon, buoyed by strong performances in the telecommunications, construction and insurance sectors.

As of 15:00 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 0.06% higher at 18,250.

Ophir Energy was making gains thanks to an upgrade, with Barclays making the oil company one of its top sector picks. Sector peer Infinis Energy was also trading higher after swinging to a profit in the year to the end of March.

TeleCity Group dipped, despite US data centre Equinix agreeing to acquire the company in a bid that would create the largest data centre player in Europe. Telecity has agreed to terminate another merger it had agreed with Interxion on 9 March.

Card Factory was trading higher following favorable analysis from The Times' Temnpus on Thursday, applauding like-for-like sales growth, strong online trade and a prospective cash return before the end of the year.

Paypoint extended Thursday's gains, driven by a rise in pretax profit to 7.7% as a result of strong retail services business and expansion in Romania. The bill payment services provider also announced plans to sell its parking and online payment processing companies.

Integrated support services company Carillion edged higher after acquiring Canadian camping group Outland for £63m. Carillion chief executive Richard Howson said: “Acquiring Outland is another important strategic step in the development of our support services business in Canada.”

Risers
Booker Group (BOK) 177.60p +4.47%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 187.40p +3.88%
Card Factory (CARD) 359.80p +3.78%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 131.90p +3.69%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 359.50p +2.54%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 663.00p +2.47%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 649.50p +2.28%
esure Group (ESUR) 258.90p +2.21%
Bellway (BWY) 2,351.00p +2.17%
Premier Oil (PMO) 162.50p +2.07%

Fallers
Renishaw (RSW) 2,429.00p -3.07%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 368.40p -2.59%
Polymetal International (POLY) 549.00p -2.49%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 529.00p -2.04%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,942.00p -2.02%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,236.00p -1.89%
Evraz (EVR) 170.40p -1.84%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,879.00p -1.73%
Just Eat (JE.) 461.40p -1.62%
BTG (BTG) 712.00p -1.59%