FTSE 250 movers: Fenner surges on Michelin deal; Sophos slumps again
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.2% to 19,731.40 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with deal news providing a boost.
Engineer Fenner surged as it agreed to be bought by French tyre manufacturer Michelin in a deal worth around £1.3bn.
Under the terms of the transaction, Fenner shareholders will receive 610p in cash per share, which is a premium of around 31% to the closing price of 467p on 16 March. Fenner shareholders will also receive a dividend of up to 2.1p per share to be declared around 25 April. Fenner said its directors consider the offer to be "fair and reasonable" and intend to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in its favour.
IT infrastructure provider Softcat racked up healthy gains ahead of its results for the six months to the end of January 2018 on Wednesday.
Housebuilder Bellway rose after saying it was on track to build more than 10,000 homes in a year for the first time as half year pre-tax profits rose 16.6% to £288.7m. Peer Crest Nicholson also rallied on the news.
On the downside, Sophos Group was under pressure again after a profit warning from Micro Focus a day earlier, which led analyst Ameet Patelasking at Northern Trust Capital Markets to suggest that attention will soon turn to Sophos. Patelasking said the company's stretched balance sheet, slowdown in sales momentum and debt-funded acquisition strategy were a "grand slam of red flags".
888 Holdings fell despite a solid set of results, as it delivered a 12% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the year to the end of December 2017. Analysts pointed to uncertainty over Germany as 888 said it was considering its position there following regulatory changes.
Canaccord Genuity said: "German uncertainty may cloud short-term performance, but we see 888 as an attractive play on the two key themes of industry consolidation and US market opening."
Wood Group fell after saying it expects to see modest earnings growth in 2018, with analysts highlighting the company’s cautious outlook.
Polypipe was down after it said that a strong UK performance against a challenging backdrop helped it to record a 3.9% rise in full year pre-tax profits to £55.6m.
Risers
Fenner (FENR) 613.50p 25.05%
Softcat (SCT) 672.00p 4.02%
SSP Group (SSPG) 631.50p 3.10%
Bellway (BWY) 3,140.00p 2.95%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 150.60p 2.87%
Nex Group (NXG) 896.00p 2.75%
IP Group (IPO) 104.80p 2.75%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 842.00p 2.68%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 450.40p 2.64%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 330.20p 2.55%
Fallers
Sophos Group (SOPH) 418.80p -8.76%
888 Holdings (888) 276.20p -6.63%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 604.00p -5.80%
Renewi (RWI) 82.30p -3.06%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,243.38p -2.60%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 387.60p -2.47%
Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 397.00p -2.46%
Provident Financial (PFG) 911.80p -2.13%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 384.20p -2.11%
Capita (CPI) 155.55p -1.98%