FTSE 250 movers: KAZ leads miners, PZ Cussons investors in a lather
The FTSE 250 index was largely flat on Tuesday, with miners on the up and a diverse range of fallers led by PZ Cussons.
Kaz Minerals led the mid-cap charge, its shares buffed up by a jump in copper prices, while the more diversified Vedanta Resources enjoyed the wider sector bounce.
Ahead of its interim results on Thursday, Renishaw was rebounding. The engineer, which specialises in high-precision metrology and healthcare technology, between October and mid-December lost around 17% of their value after revealing first-quarter profits had dropped and that it planned to discontinue operations at its diagnostics unit. In its preview, UBS noted that Renishaw had enjoyed growth in all regions and that management guided for continued growth in both revenue and profit for this financial year. UBS analysts estimated revenues of £230m, up 6.9% on like-for-like basis, and EBIT up 18% to £42m for the first half of the year.
Investors got in a lather about Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons after it reporting a 38% drop in pre-tax profit for the first half of the year, due to challenging conditions in Nigeria in Australia. Although PBT was down just down 5.5% on an constant currency basis and management maintained that it was on track to meet full year expectations, the shares dropped 10%.
Bookmaker William Hill fell after UBS downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’ and cut its price target to 240p from 295p, saying the market has not priced in the fixed odds betting terminal risk for the bookmaker. UBS reckons the market is pricing in either no downside risk to Retail earnings before interest and taxes or a multiple for the online business which it views as stretched.
Likewise BTG was down as Jefferies analysts adopted a more cautious stance, incorporating effect of new competition for its CroFab rattlesnake antivenom, removing Varithena cosmetic uses and cutting Vistogard peak sales, which together has trimmed its net present value and therefore price target by 9% to 775p per share. But analysts remain confident that robust growth in interventional oncology and EkoSonic can drive 20% earnings per share growth and so retain their 'buy' rating.
IG Group posted a solid set of interim results, though investors seemed disappointed that profits were limited by significantly increased marketing spending as the online broker develops new lower-risk products to fit in with the tighter regulatory environment. The effect of the marketing spend was evident in a 22% year-on-year increase in active customers, but while net trading revenue climbed 14% to £244.9m, profit before tax rose only 6.7% to £105.2m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,385.00p 5.85%
ITV (ITV) 210.20p 4.42%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,625.00p 4.33%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 823.50p 4.31%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,495.00p 4.00%
Glencore (GLEN) 331.25p 3.39%
Pearson (PSON) 608.00p 2.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,484.00p 2.34%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 765.10p 2.07%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 573.50p 1.96%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BT Group (BT.A) 303.10p -20.77%
easyJet (EZJ) 975.50p -9.34%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 319.60p -4.91%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,955.00p -4.10%
Capita (CPI) 503.00p -3.64%
Next (NXT) 3,810.00p -2.21%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 199.15p -1.99%
Standard Life (SL.) 345.10p -1.71%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 917.00p -1.66%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,482.00p -1.63%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 445.20p 5.17%
Renishaw (RSW) 2,853.00p 4.85%
Evraz (EVR) 233.30p 4.15%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,049.00p 3.35%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 156.80p 2.75%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 325.50p 2.52%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 154.80p 2.52%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 140.00p 2.49%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 939.50p 1.95%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 216.00p 1.93%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
PZ Cussons (PZC) 303.00p -9.96%
William Hill (WMH) 263.20p -4.91%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 157.20p -3.79%
BTG (BTG) 555.50p -3.14%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 525.00p -2.96%
Carillion (CLLN) 228.40p -2.89%
Essentra (ESNT) 422.10p -2.70%
Mitie Group (MTO) 199.20p -2.50%
AA (AA.) 245.00p -2.31%
Greencore Group (GNC) 224.80p -2.30%