FTSE 250 movers: Essentra rallies on results; IMI drops
London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.7 to 19,416.71 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Plastics and fibre maker Essentra was the top performer as it reported a narrowing of full year losses while declaring a flat dividend. The company said pre-tax losses came in at £5m compared with a £63m loss a year earlier. Revenue increased to £1.03bn from £999m and the dividend was held at 20.7p a share.
Temporary power provider Drax was on the front foot as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, saying the £50m share buyback shows confidence.
Howden Joinery was also on the rise as Canaccord Genuity upped its price target on the stock to 515p from 500p and kept the rating at ‘buy’ following "decent" results on Thursday.
"Howdens continues to demonstrate its superior and flexible business model. Management is focused on the detail of how to best serve its trade customer base and continues to find ways to offer what its customers want in an increasingly complex consumer environment," it said.
On the downside, engineering group IMI retreated after saying full year pre-tax profits rose 9.4% to £180.9m, as investors were disappointed at the lack of organic growth.
Madame Tussauds owner Merlin Entertainments was in the red despite an upgrade by Berenberg to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ as Credit Suisse lowered its estimates following 2017 results on Thursday.
Risers
Essentra (ESNT) 485.60p 9.81%
Drax Group (DRX) 270.80p 7.04%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 502.40p 4.60%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 447.10p 4.29%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 494.20p 4.04%
Hunting (HTG) 699.00p 3.63%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,232.00p 3.53%
Vectura Group (VEC) 73.80p 2.93%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 137.25p 2.81%
Coats Group (COA) 85.25p 2.71%
Fallers
IMI (IMI) 1,116.00p -9.19%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,897.50p -4.22%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 135.70p -4.03%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 841.00p -3.89%
AA (AA.) 74.50p -3.75%
Bodycote (BOY) 887.50p -3.48%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 360.80p -3.01%
Investec (INVP) 614.80p -2.66%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,550.00p -2.52%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 465.50p -2.51%