FTSE 250 movers: Greencore stays fresh after Tesco results
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.38% at 20,342.61 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Greencore moved higher after a major supermarket client, Tesco, reported a strong increase in UK sales in the first-half.
The supermarket's sales increased 12.8% to £28.3bn in the 26 weeks to 25 August, with like-for-like sales up 2.2% thanks to improving growth in Greencore's main operating ground of UK and the Republic of Ireland, which offset worsening declines in Continental Europe.
Computacenter also made gains on Wednesday after UBS upgraded the stock from 'sell' to 'neutral' following Monday's news that the IT infrastructure services provider has agreed to to buy US IT firm FusionStorm.
The Swiss bank also raised its target price to 1,285p from 1,255p as it said the purchase, which is comprised of an initial cash consideration of $70m and a deferred $20m, was a good fit for Computacenter.
“FusionStorm fits with the strategy expressed at April's capital markets day when management expressed a desire to have US product fulfilment capabilities to complement the existing managed services offering it has there to serve a handful of its larger European clients,” said the broker.
Polymer specialist Victrex was the major faller of the afternoon after being downgraded by Merrill Lynch to 'neutral' from 'buy' on valuation grounds.
Analysts from the US wealth management giant said the shares' outperformance of 40% in the past 12 months has priced in Victrex’s “quality premium”, with the shares at a 56% premium to European peers at 25 times 2019 earnings.
The broker also pointed out possible near-term risk to volumes from the weak auto market and saw foreign exchange headwinds as potentially lasting for another two years.
Homeserve also dropped courtesy of a downgrade, with Stifel reducing its recommendation in the home repairs business from 'buy' to 'hold'.
Stifel said that the company remains one of its top picks in the sector and that it continues to see a significant growth trajectory in the US, with the UK and Mainland Europe providing a stable base of operations.
The broker added that when HomeServe reports its preliminary financial results on Tuesday it expects to see evidence of solid progress.
Fashion retailer Ted Baker fell ahead of the release of its interim results as confidence in the high street continues to falter.
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,342.61 0.38%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Indivior (INDV) 199.85p 6.87%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 218.60p 6.12%
Greencore Group (GNC) 194.37p 5.06%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,344.00p 5.00%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 506.60p 4.26%
Rank Group (RNK) 176.20p 3.16%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 27.71p 3.08%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 283.30p 3.02%
Softcat (SCT) 839.00p 2.94%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 108.70p 2.94%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Victrex plc (VCT) 3,156.00p -5.28%
Homeserve (HSV) 985.50p -5.06%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 237.50p -4.04%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,678.00p -2.56%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,316.00p -2.20%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 517.50p -2.08%
On The Beach Group (OTB) 498.00p -1.97%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 129.56p -1.85%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 355.80p -1.55%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,531.00p -1.48%