FTSE 250 movers: IMI downgrade sees market dip into red

The FTSE 250 was flip-flopping between the black and the red on Monday, with the second-tier market relatively flat by mid-afternoon, down just 9.12 points (0.06%) to 16,118.87.

IMI took the biggest hit after Credit Suisse downgraded the engineer from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ and dropped its target price from 870p to 710p.

The investment bank said the decision was based on a number of factors. “The current share price discounting a ROIC of 16% versus our average forecast for 2015-17 of 12%, cash conversion in 2016-17 below both IMI's through cycle average and the sector average, a demanding valuation for no earnings growth and also potential downside risk to group EPS from further deterioration in revenue and margins in Critical in 2016E.”

In the same report, the Swiss broker downgraded its view on shares of Spectris.

Sinking oil prices saw oil and gas producers and service providers drop again. After rising late last week in anticipation of the blizzard which hit the US eastern seaboard, it started to fall again after HSBC cut its oil price forecast for the rest of the year to around $45 per barrel, compared to the $60 it had previously expected. The bank said the market was oversupplied by an estimated 2m barrels a day in 2015. That caused Tullow Oil, Weir Group and Petrofac to feature in the fallers list.

However it wasn’t all bad news for the sector, with Ophir Energy bucking the trend. Shares were up after the company announced it had signed a non-binding head of terms agreement with Schlumberger, which will receive a 40% interest in the company’s Fortuna project in Equatorial Guinea.

Under the definitive agreement, which is expected to be signed in the second quarter, Schlumberger will reimburse 50% of Ophir’s past costs in the form of a development carried interest. This is expected to cover Ophir's share of capital expenditures up until first sales of liquefied natural gas.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ophir Energy (OPHR) 90.00p 6.95%
Allied Minds (ALM) 286.60p 6.94%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,779.00p 5.27%
Genus (GNS) 1,436.00p 4.97%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 212.10p 4.23%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,141.00p 4.01%
Betfair Group (BET) 4,041.00p 3.88%
Card Factory (CARD) 353.20p 3.85%
SSP Group (SSPG) 291.50p 3.85%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 960.00p 3.45%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IMI (IMI) 762.00p -6.10%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 139.70p -5.48%
Weir Group (WEIR) 842.50p -4.91%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 379.40p -4.79%
Spectris (SXS) 1,550.00p -4.50%
Aggreko (AGK) 790.00p -3.72%
AO World (AO.) 150.00p -3.35%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 714.50p -3.32%
Northgate (NTG) 338.40p -2.76%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 300.30p -2.56%